290 



ZOOLOGY. 

 FIG. 130. 





FIG. 130. The American Lobster (Homarus americanus). From Herrick. 



Questions on the figure. What body-regions are distinguishable in 

 the lobster? Compare by actual measurement the size of the crushing 

 claw with that of the body. How many segments in the abdominal region ? 

 Compare with Fig. 128. 



It is estimated that as many as one hundred million lobsters have been 

 taken in a single year in New England and Canadian waters. There is no 

 doubt that the lobster is in immediate danger of extinction as a food 

 animal, as is shown by the fact of greater difficulty in obtaining them 

 and by the decrease in the average size of the animals put on the market. 

 This decrease occurs in the face of the fact that the mature female produces 

 from ten thousand to one hundred thousand eggs. These are carried 

 under the abdomen of the mother until hatched, which requires a period 



