ON THE EAST COAST OF FLORIDA. 157 



cuts, on the bottom, and under the mangroves along the shores. By 

 some people it is considered equal to the Lobster as food, as it belongs 

 to same order, but I do not consider it equal to the Lobster in edible 

 qualities. There are vast numbers of them caught and used as food 

 and bait between Biscayne Bay and Key West. 



It is hardly germane to my subject, but I must digress a little from 

 the angler's standpoint, and call the reader's attention to the beauty, 

 wonderful complexity, and high organization (physically) of the 

 animal he is using as bait, the Crayfish. 



Huxley, one of the great naturalists of our age, and the greatest 

 zoologist and biologist of any age, devoted a book of 381 pages and 

 81 illustrations to the description of the Crayfish. The title to the 

 book, "The Crayfish, an Introduction to the study of Biology," 

 shows how important he considers the family. 



In his preface he says : " My purpose, in the present work, is to 

 exemplify the general truths respecting the development of zoological 

 science which has just been stated by the study of a special case ; and 

 to that end, I have selected an animal, the common Crayfish, which 

 taken altogether is better fitted for my purpose than any other." 

 And : " The Crayfish is obviously a very complicated piece of living 

 machinery." 



He quotes from Rosel von Rosenhof as follows : " Common and 

 lowly as most may think the Crayfish, it is yet so full of wonders that 

 the greatest naturalist may be puzzled to give a clear account of it." 



