92 LOBSTERS. 



3rd. The left hand corner of the tail of the original shell 

 clearly shows it had been shorn in some manner (possibly 

 during a fight), and in the new shell this mutilation has 

 been reproduced too. 



I may mention this lobster was killed when finally taken 

 from its store trunk, and prior to its being placed in alcohol, 

 by just tapping the tip of the " beak," a process which causes 

 practically immediate death, owing (vide Captain Masters) 

 to concussion of the brain, but, in my opinion, in consequence 

 of the entrance of air into the animal's internal economy. 



I may also add it is most unusual for a lobster to break 

 open its carapace when moulting, as this one did (possibly 

 this was done upon this occasion owing to the lobster being 

 out of the water). The almost invariable manner is for the 

 fish to break open the membraneous joint between the cara- 

 pace and the first somite in the tail, and withdraw itself 

 through the aperture thus made, as each ecdysis so kindly 

 lent me by Mr. Waddington proves. 



This action of the withdrawal of the lobster from its shell 

 periodically is the most remarkable of all its phenomena, 

 inasmuch as without a single fracture of any portion of the 

 exo-skeleton even in its most delicate parts including the 

 antennules, antennae, &c. (beyond the severance between 

 the carapace and abdomen) it, at the same time, without 

 damaging one single portion of the body, no matter how 

 delicate, extracts itself from the shell. 



When one knows the orifice of the sockets of the large 

 claws is only approximately l-10th the size of the end of the 

 claw (in other words, the contents of that end of the claw 

 have to be withdrawn through the upper portion, which is 

 10 times smaller, without injury to the contents, or the 

 outer sheath) the marvel of the operation is extreme. And 

 yet the secret is well known, and is one of the many interest- 

 ing features of this wonderful and valuable crustacean, i.e., 

 in anticipation of the eventual casting of the shell, the animal, 

 in good time, absorbs within its system (mainly in the shape of 

 two " gastroliths " in its stomach) a sufficient portion of the 



