120 THE LOBSTER— THE CRAB. 



rally predominant; and their motions are as lively as their tints 

 are beautiful. In China, they are every where kept in porcelain 

 vessels, for the amusement of the opulent, and as ornaments to 

 their palaces and gardens. It is said that they will live several 

 months in a vessel without food, provided that the water be fre- 

 quently changed ; but it would be cruel to make the experiment. 

 Every kind of suffering unnecessarily imposed on the anima 

 creation, is shocking to humanity, and an offence against the 

 Creator. 



CHAPTER V. 



SHEU-nSH. 



" In shelly armour wrapt, the lobsters seek 

 Safe shelter in some bay, or winding creek ; 

 To rocky chasms the dusky natives cleave, 

 Tenacious hold, nor will the dwelling leave." 



Oppian. 



Although, in describing the inhabitants of the waters, a race of 

 animals presents itself, to which, from the place of their residence, 

 custom has given the appellation of fishes ; yet some naturalists 

 seem to doubt whether they ought to be included in that class. 

 These are the shell-fish, which might, perhaps, with propriety, 

 he considered as a distinct order of creatures, forming that link 

 in the great chain of being which connects the piscine with the 

 reptile race. They are, in fact, the reptiles of the deep ; never 

 swimming upon its surface, but creeping along the shores, and 

 lodging at the bottom of the waters. 



These animals, however, considered as fish, are distinguished 

 into two kinds, the crustaceous and the testaceous : the former, 

 such as the crab and the lobster, have a shell that is not quite 

 of a bony substance, but rather resembling a strong crust, while 

 that of the latter is of a bony hardness. 



Of this kind of animals, the lobster and the crab are the most 

 generally known, and of the greatest utility to man, to whom 

 they furnish an excellent article of food, wholesome and nutri- 

 tious. 



THE LOBSTER, AND THE CRAB, 



Being so frequently seen in our markets, it would be useless to 

 describe their form, and, indeed, no verbal description could ex- 

 nibit an accurate representation of either. Nothing but the 

 sight of the animal could give a just idea of so singular a con- 

 formation 



