60 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 915 



was inevitably overlooked, since this species 

 was used merely as the exponent of the genus, 

 and is referred to but once by name, and that 

 under the description of the plate." Huxley 

 was no doubt familiar with this paper, but had 

 he recognized the drawing, he would have cer- 

 tainly referred to it, and the " hopeless per- 

 plexity," to which he confessed " respecting 

 the Crayfish or Lobster which is said to occur 

 at the Cape of Good Hope, Cancer (Astacus) 

 capensis of Herbst," would have been miti- 

 gated if not removed. 



It is evident from the preceding account 

 that the Cape of Good Hope lobster enjoyed 

 a vague and uncertain literary reputation up 

 to 1902 when it was redescribed by Stebbing" 

 who gave the first full and accurate descrip- 

 tion of this interesting form from specimens 

 furnished by Dr. Gilchrist. 



The two specimens, a male and female, de- 

 scribed by Stebbings, agree closely with the 

 description of Milne Edwards. The serrated 

 rostrum has no teeth on the lower side, and its 

 apex extends beyond the base of the third seg- 

 ment of the first antenna. 



A very interesting fact, but still commonly 

 overlooked, is the periodic arrangement, in 

 series of eight, of the spines of the toothed 

 forceps of the European and American lob- 

 sters. Though less striking, the arrangement 

 of the tubercles of the cracker claw is charac- 

 teristic. So far as can be judged from Steb- 

 bings's description, these peculiarities are less 

 marked or altogether wanting in the Cape 

 lobster. Of the larger forceps he says : 



The marginal teeth are few and not bulky, hairs 

 at the base of the thumb partly filling the cavity 

 between it and the finger. 



In the smaller claw there are said to be 



• Singularly enough in my copy of this paper the 

 last page bearing the name of the lobster is miss- 

 ing, though the description has been supplied in 

 manuscript. 



" ' ' Marine Investigations in South Africa, ' ' Vol. 

 1, p. 34, Cape Town, 1902. See also Stebbing 's 

 "General Catalogue of South African Crustacea," 

 Annals of the South African Museum, Vol. VI., 

 p. 378, London, 1910; also Caiman's review of 

 the same, in Nature, Vol. 86, p. 174, April 6, 1911. 



" many minute but unequal teeth, and a long 

 brush of hairs." 



In the American lobster the rostrum is ser- 

 rate with fewer and larger teeth; there is 

 usually a spine on its under side near the 

 apex, which extends considerably beyond the 

 third segment of the first antenna. In speci- 

 mens from three to four inches long short 

 hairs partially fill the cavity between finger 

 and thumb of the larger claw, while the serial 

 teeth of the toothed forceps are quite con- 

 cealed by matted tufts of setae, like round 

 stub-brushes, set in rows. The outer margin 

 of the thumb (propodus) carries at its tip a 

 row of about 14 such brushes, made up often 

 of a hundred or more sensory hairs. More- 

 over, the " lock " or toothed forceps has a lock- 

 ing device, by means of which the jaws when 

 closed can not be moved laterally or strained 

 either up or down; this is effected by a dis- 

 placed " lock " spine, overlapping tips, and a 

 reversal in the alignment of the teeth whereby 

 they overlap, and do not interlock." A corre- 

 sponding reversal is seen in the alignment of 

 the setae, the denser row being uppermost in 

 the thumb (propodus), and lowermost in the 

 dactyl. 



To conclude this account of the Cape lob- 

 ster I quote from Stebbings: 



The color (so far as known), the small size, the 

 pubescence of the body and claws, and the flattened 

 hands of the front chelipeds, will sufficiently dis- 

 tinguish this neat little South African species, less 

 than four inches long and less than three quarters 

 of an inch broad, from the clumsier lobsters of 

 the north. 



At last the Cape lobster thus emerges as a 

 true species, of small size and attractive ap- 

 pearance, and like its more famous relatives 

 in Europe and America, it lives only in salt 

 water. It is sincerely hoped that zoologists 

 will not have to wait another half century for 

 an adequate account of both its habits and 

 development. 



As if this form were doomed to confusion, 

 Stebbings persists in using the term Asiacus 

 for the lobsters, but since the decision of the 



"See "Natural History of the American Lob- 

 ster," p. 261. 



