Aerating })iiiiii), valued at $15, can he bought 

 cheap or obtained in exchange for goldfish. Con- i 

 fer with Secretary. 



"THE LOBSTER" 



A short account of the development of the young 

 of the common lobster from the eggs which the 

 female carries for ten or eleven months in dense 

 masses under her body will doubtless be of interest 

 to those of us interested in the wonders of nature. 

 The lobster egg is about one-fifteenth of an inch in 

 diameter and the young when hatched are not 

 more than one-third of an inch in length and are 

 free swimming through most of their early life, 

 spending a greater part of this life on or near the 

 surface of the water. The little fellows pass rap- 

 idly through several successive stages before arriv- 

 ing at adult age. 



Like all crustaceans, the lobster increases in size 

 by moulting or casting off its old coat, which is 

 usually thrown off m one piece. This moulting is 

 necessary, as the shell once formed never grows, 

 but a new shell, in a soft state, forms under the 

 old. The youngsters pass through this moulting 

 every few days; but when full grown the shedding 

 takes place only once in every one or two years. 

 The lobster prepares for the approaching moult >.>y 

 erecting a fortress of sand under some shelving 

 rock to await the change of coat. 



The greatest difficulty seems to be in drawing 

 the large anterior claws through the comparatively 

 small dimensions of the same limb where it joins 

 the body. After the great limbs are free the rest 

 is easier, and by a series of spasmodic jerks the 

 whole body is drawn from the old covering, the 

 complete change taking perhaps one-half hour. 

 When everything is at last free the lobster lies as 

 if dead and they occasionally do die from exhaus- 

 tion, but in two or three days the newly attired 

 lobster, a full fourth larger than before, goes out 

 to meet its brothers on equal terms. 



80 



