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the attacks of their various enemies. For some days 

 before their change, the animal discontinues its usual 

 voraciousness ; it is no longer seen harrowing up the 

 sand at the bottom, or fighting with others of its kind, 

 or hunting its prey : it lies torpid and motionless. 

 Just before casting its shell, it throws itself , upon its 

 back, strikes its claws against each other, and every 

 limb seems to tremble; its feelers are agitated, and 

 the whole body is in violent motion. It thon swells 

 itself in an unusual manner, and at last the shell begins 

 to divide at its junctures ; particularly at the junctures 

 of the belly, where like a pair of jumps, it was be- 

 fore but seemingly united. It also seems turned inside 

 out ; and its stomach comes away with its shell. After 

 this it disengages itself of the claws, which burst at 

 the joints ; the animal, with a tremulous motion, cast, 

 ing them off, as a man would kick off a boot that 

 was too big for him. 



Thus this wonderful creature is at liberty ; but so 

 weak that it continues for several hours motionless. 

 Indeed, so violent and painful is the operation, that 

 many of them die under it ; and those which survive, 

 for some time neither take food, nor venture from 

 their retreats. Immediately after this change, they 

 have not only the softness, but the timidity of a 

 worm. Every animal of the deep is then a powerful 

 enemy, which they can neither escape, nor oppose^ 

 and this is the time when the dog-fish, the co;l, and 

 the ray devour them by hundreds. But this state con- 

 tinues for a very short time : in less than two days, the 

 skin that covered its body is grown almost as hard as 

 before. 



When the lobster is completely equipped in its nevr 

 shell, it appears how much it has grown in the space 

 of a very few days. The old shell being ^ compared 

 with those of the new, it is increased above a third in 

 its size ; and, like a- boy-that has outgrown his clothes, 

 it seems wonderful how the deserted shell was able to 

 contain so great an animal as entirely fills up the 

 new. 



