14 
When they were first put in they all hid themselves behind the 
rockery. At length one young crab crept cautiously forth to 
explore his new surroundings, and no sooner had he done so than 
a bigger crab pounced upon him, tore him to bits and began to 
devour him. While the second crab was enjoying his cannibalistic 
meal, a larger crab still entered the fray and began to chew crab 
No. 2 with great gusto. And while the third crab was devouring 
the second, the latter went calmly on with his own dinner. 
The audience also learned with a great deal of interest that it 
is quite impossible for lobsters to suffer from dyspepsia, so finely 
do they grind their food. ‘The lobster’s mouth is placed in his 
chest, and his food is first ground to pulp by the greater jaws. 
Then the food is taken in hand by the lesser jaws, but as the 
lobster is still not satisfied, he turns the food over to a still 
smaller pair of jaws, known as the “ jaw feet.’’ Then the food is 
passed down to the teeth, which are situated in the lobster’s 
throat and here it is ground to a finer pulp. But still the lobster 
is not quite happy, for below the teeth is a kind of sieve, and 
through this the creature strains his food as a last process before 
it reaches the organs of digestion. The lobster ought to be a 
highly intellectual animal, for he has no fewer than twenty brains. 
Mr. Wood's quaint sense of humour made his lecture all the 
more entertaining, and it was illustrated by some remarkably clever 
sketches in coloured chalks done by himself in view of the 
audience. 
THURSDAY, MARCH st, 1906. 
Pigeons. 
BY 
Mr. FOXALL. 
Nap eeee= dealing with the subject, Mr. Foxall began with an 
historical outline of Pigeon culture, going so far back as the 
time of the Egyptians, 27co B.c. Shewing pictures of the leading 
varieties, the Lecturer asserted that the present breeds had 
developed from the blue rock. He instanced the use of carrier 
pigeons in war, even in ancient times at the siege of Modena, and 
in 1870 at Paris. In graphic terms he described a year’s work in 
an ordinary Pigeon Loft ; indicated how shows should be held 
and judging carried out; and Closed by justifying the Pigeon 
Breeding hobby as being really a fine art. 
