CUARACTEH OF THE LOBSTEIi. 157 



himself upon his back, and battles with his pincers 

 one against the other. Then a shudder runs through 

 his limbs and his whole body ; they throb and dilate, 

 the joints of the armour open along the belly, those 

 of the claws come apart — the moment of the creature's 

 deliverance is at hand. But when thus freed from 

 his shell, the lobster is so feeble that he remains 

 altogether without motion, and in this state becomes 

 the easy prey of cod and other ravenous fishes. His 

 own species, however, are in general his most dan- 

 gerous neighbours. They have the meanness to 

 devour the smallest and feeblest of their kind, even 

 preferring them to the little worms hidden in the 

 sand, or to the spawn of fish. 



The greater part of a lobster's life is passed in a 

 retreat which he selects between two rocks. This 

 lurking-place is scarcely larger than the animal 

 himself, and from thence he springs with agility 

 upon his prey. The instant any danger menaces him 

 he flies rapidly towards his den, springing from the 

 ground tail-foremost, and sometimes clearing more 

 than thirty feet at a single bound. 



This armour-plated brigand, so ready to pounce 

 on his defenceless prey, is so far from being a hero, 

 that certain species, whose coat-of-mail is partly de- 

 fective, are glad to take refuge in the deserted shell 

 of a brother crustacean. This is the case with tlie 



