332 THE LOBSTER KIND. 



during the time of this suffering imbecility, the ray, the 

 cod, and the dog-fish never fail making them their 

 prey. This defenceless and uncomfortable situation 

 they only remain in a very short time, for a thick skin 

 soon incloses the body, which becomes a hard shell in 

 eight-and-forty hours ; and the first proof it gives of 

 having regained its voracious appetite, is by devouring 

 the stomach which had been disgorged in the former 

 shell. 



The creature, thus furnished not only with a new co- 

 vering, but also with a greater proportion of courage 

 and strength, ventures more boldly amongst the ani- 

 mals at the bottom ; and not a week passes but some 

 combats ensue, which generally terminate by the loss 

 of a limb ; and, what appears almost inconceivable, in 

 the course of three weeks it is completely renewed, 

 though it never becomes quite of the former size. 



After what has been said, let us pause a little to re- 

 flect upon the singularities which this extraordinary 

 creature presents : though it has no bones on the in- 

 side, yet it is furnished with a stomach capable of di- 

 gesting the hardest ghclls ! without red blood circulate 

 ing through the body, yet apparently endowed both 

 with vigour and strength, and possessing the power of 

 renewing not only its shell and stomach, but of supply- 

 ing the place of a dissevered limb ! 



Of this singular, yet well-known animal, many va- 

 rieties are to be seen ; some are found above three feet 

 long, and some not more than an inch, if we include 

 the prawn and shrimp. None of the class can exist 

 long out of the water ; and, when in that element, the 

 shell is perfectly black, though it becomes red by the 

 effect of heat. The general way of taking lobsters is 

 by putting a bait into a wigker-basket, and sinking it 



