88 ABOUT LOBSTERS 



were placed in the glass percolator tops. The radium salt 

 was applied to the small end of the rubber cork. Thus, the 

 light was reflected as diffused light by the marble rather 

 than striking directly into the water. No success. 



As a last shot, a number of the above tests were re- 

 peated, using bait as well as the light. If the light and bait 

 together fished better than bait alone, then one could be 

 sure that the light was helpful. In most trials the combina- 

 tion caught fewer lobsters than bait alone. The best he could 

 do was to occasionally have the combination fish as well as 

 bait alone. These last tests were made with a lighted perco- 

 lator top secured in the small end of a sheet rubber cone. 

 The cone was mounted over the bait so that its light shone 

 on the bait, but the light source itself was invisible to a 

 lobster. 



There have been articles in newspapers telling of fish 

 lures which attracted through sound. To try out this idea, 

 and purely as a shot in the dark, a loud ticking Ingersoll 

 watch was placed in a Mason jar and hung in a pot— with no 

 results except that the jar leaked in the first test and the 

 watch was ruined. 



There are still several entirely different approaches to 

 the problem of attracting lobsters. But they take time and 

 are often expensive. 



A word of caution: be very careful how you play with 

 radium salts. They can and do cause cancer if improperly 

 handled. The girls who paint watch dials work behind glass 

 shields and are frequently checked by health officials. 



This histoiy ends with no practical lure. It is valuable 

 in that it provides a starting point for further development, 

 and it should save needless duplicating of experiments al- 

 ready made. Knowledge of what not to do is often valuable. 



In the history of this country, if a need is great enough, 

 someone has always fulfilled that need. The need for a 

 manufactured lobster bait is great. Someone will find the 

 answer. 



