82 REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



ponds, the keeping of lobsters as well as the packing and transpor- 

 tation is often attended with considerable loss. An examination 

 of freshly taken lobsters will often show that as high as from 7 per 

 cent, to 25 per cent, have lost one or both chelipeds, or big claws — a 

 matter of some importance when we consider the choice quality of the 

 cheliped for market purposes and their large proportion of weight. 



The recent success in the hatching and rearing of lobster fry and 

 the new possibilities which are thus developing in the lobster indus- 

 try are adding new interest to every phase of the lobster's life and 

 growth. From the standpoint of lobster culture there are advan- 

 tages in making the intervals between the moulting periods as short 

 as possible. The frequency of moulting depends upon a variety of 

 conditions, both physiological and environmental. Warm weather, 

 a more vigorous life and appetite, seem materially to hasten the 

 moulting stage. In view of these facts, such questions naturally 

 arise as what relations are there between the loss and regeneration of 

 appendages and the process of moulting. 



Within the last few years the subject of regeneration has been re- 

 ceiving a great deal of attention and scientific study, but it has not 

 been completely worked out in the lobster — Homarus americanus. The 

 Rhode Island Fish Commission in its work of solving the problem of 

 lobster culture and the consequent study of the entire life-history 

 and habits of the lobster has directed some of its attention to the 

 phenomenon of regeneration, in regard to which the present paper is 

 in the nature of a preliminary report. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. ■ 



Experimenters and Observations. — The subject of regeneration did 

 not attract general attention until about the middle of the seventeenth 

 century. At that time the remarkable observations and experi- 

 ments of such men as Trembley, 1740; and Reamur, 1742; Bonnet, 

 1745; and Spallanzani, 1768, became known. They found that if a 

 hydra was cut into three or four pieces, each piece would grow out 

 again and form a new and perfect animal. Bonnet found that cer- 



