POPULAR HISTORY 



BRITISH CRUSTACEA 



INTRODUCTION. 



A London fishmonger told the writer that some of the 

 largest shell-fish dealers in the Metropolis sold, every year, 

 as many as sixty thousand Lobsters and twelve thousand 

 Crabs. He assured him that many an ordinary fishmonger 

 in London found sale for some eight or ten thousand of 

 these Crustacean commodities. But who can calculate the 

 number of Shrimps and Prawns consumed annually in Lon- 

 don by those who are fond of such dainties ? Bushels of 

 the former are daily sold in Billingsgate to be retailed by 

 the pint, there being from 100 to 150 Shrimps in every 

 pint; while hundreds of pounds' weight of Prawns meet 

 with purchasers, who find 200 Prawns in every pound, and 



B 



