REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 263 



individual. Occasionally a specimen would be engaged in the act 

 of molting just at the time of observation, but usually the lobsters 

 would molt at some time during the interval between two suc- 

 cessive observations; in that case the date of the first observation 

 after molting was recorded as the date of the molt. 



II. 



EXPERIMENTS AND RESULTS. 



1. 



Explanation of Terms. 



The following terms will be used with the meanings indicated 

 below : 



Mutilation: An injury to a limb made in such a w^ay that the 

 lobster will throw the limb off by autotomy. 



Regeneration: The reproduction or growth of another limb to 

 replace the one lost by mutilation. 



The process of regeneration: The series of cell-activities involved 

 in the origin, development, and differentiation of the tissues 

 and organs of the regenerating structure. 



The molting process: The series of cell-activities in the old tissue 

 and skin which take place more or less continviously through- 

 out the molting period; and which result in a growth of new 

 tissue and the secretion of a new shell underneath the old one. 



The molt, or act of molting: The periodic culmination of the molting 

 process, in which the animal casts off the old shell. 



The rate of molting: The length of time required by the process of 

 molting to culminate in the act of molting. 



The molting period: The interval between two successive molts. 



