JANUARY 12, 1912] 
Herrick’s monograph of 1895 was an excel- 
lent assemblage of original data, bearing 
chiefly upon the anatomy and development— 
but to a very slight extent upon the habits— 
of our most far-famed decapod. The paper 
was adequately illustrated with original draw- 
ings and was accompanied by a bibliography 
of 213 titles. This was a book which merited 
a place upon the shelves of every zoologist and 
student of natural history—a place beside Pro- 
fessor Verrill’s “Invertebrates of Vineyard 
Sound.” 
At the time of this earlier work, the lobster’s 
main interest for the zoologist lay in the fact 
that it was an easily obtained “ type-speci- 
men”; gastronomically it was well known and 
appreciated, and the term, lobster, in the dis- 
cussion of lobster laws, might sometimes have 
been heard in the halls of legislatures; that 
was about all. During the last fifteen years, 
circumstances have changed greatly. This 
species now finds itself at the focus of several 
zoological interests, and in legislative assem- 
blies many word-battles have been fought in 
efforts to do equal justice to the lobster, on the 
one hand, and to the great American public 
on the other. The lobster fisheries of the 
country have become recognized as never be- 
fore, as a point of great economic importance. 
The spirit of conservation, coupled with bio- 
logical incentive, has rendered important the 
consideration of artificial propagation of ma- 
rine fauna—a movement in which the propa- 
gation of the lobster has been foremost. But 
in addition to all this, the lobster has become 
possessed of more subjective interests. Im- 
portant and instructive as has proved its de- 
velopmental history, it has become a means of 
attack upon larger problems. As a subject for 
the study of regeneration and problems in 
morphogenesis, the lobster has supplied valu- 
able material; and metamorphic transitions in 
cellular and tissue elements have been more 
clearly revealed through histological researches 
upon this invertebrate. Moreover, the student 
of animal behavior, a branch of study which, 
at the time of Herrick’s earlier report, had 
searcely emerged from the general field of nat- 
SCIENCE 69 
ural history, has found in this crustacean a 
subject of value with reference to the investi- 
gation of problems in comparative psychology, 
instinct and habit-formation in lower ani- 
mals. Both in this country and in Europe, 
many eyes have been turned upon Homarus 
and during the past six or eight years, alone, 
several important contributions based upon 
the study of this crustacean have been made. 
Indeed, as Herrick states, there is probably at 
the present time no invertebrate in the world 
better known than the American lobster. 
Such a growing interest in Homarus can 
readily explain why it is that in Herrick’s 
new publication we find 408 pages as com- 
pared with 252 in his earlier report; and why 
the bibliography has expanded from 213 to 
329 titles. But this increased outside interest 
in the lobster does not account entirely for 
the greater proportions of the present work, 
since the author himself, through his con- 
tinued studies, has added much, both in the 
text and in valuable illustrative features. 
The subject matter of the book is presented 
in twelve chapters, which have the following 
headings: (1) The Lobsters and Allied Crus- 
tacea; their Zoological Relations, Habits, De- 
velopment and Use as Food; (2) The Amer- 
ican Lobster; its Economic Importance and 
General Habits; (3) Giant Lobsters; (4) Molt- 
ing; (5) Enemies of the Lobster; (6) The 
Anatomy of the Lobster, with Embryological 
and Physiological Notes; (7) The Great For- 
ceps, or Big Claws; (8) Defensive Mutilation 
and Regeneration; (9) Reproduction; (10) 
Development; (11) Behavior and Rate of 
Growth; (42) The Preservation and Propa- 
gation of the Lobster. 
The text of these chapters has been prac- 
tically rewritten and many valuable additions 
have been made. These additions relate to 
chapter J., with its section on the “natural 
history of the Crustacea,” to chapter VL., 
with the much more complete references to 
the internal anatomy, especially of the ner- 
vous system and its connections; to chapter 
VII., with its added sections discussing sym- 
metry, asymmetry and torsion, data largely 
supplied by Herrick’s recent investigations; 
