ASTACUS. LOBSTER. Class V. 



* are not taken here in pots, as is usual where 

 ' the water is deeper and more still than it is 



* upon our coast. Our fishermen use a bag- 

 ^ net fixed to an iron hoop, about two feet in 



* diameter, and suspended by three lines like 

 ' a scale. The bait is commonly fish-guts tied 

 ' to the bottom and middle of the net. They 

 ' can take none in the day-time, except when 

 ' the water is thick and opake ; they are com 



' monly caught in the night, but even then it is 

 ' not possible to take any when the sea has that 



* luminous appearance which is supposed to 



* proceed from the nereis noctiliica. In sum 



* mer, the Lobsters are found near the shore, 

 ' and thence to about six fathoms depth of 

 ' water ; in winter, they are seldom taken in 



* less than twelve or fifteen fathoms. Like 



* other insects, they are much more active and 

 ' alert in warm weather than in cold. In the 



* water they can run nimbly upon their legs or 

 , * small claws, and if alarmed can spring tail- 



* foremost, to a surprising distance, as swift as 



* a bird can Hy. The fishermen can see them 



* pass about thirty feet, and by the swiftness of 

 ' their motion, suppose they may go much far- 

 ' ther. AthencEus remarks this circumstance, 



* and says, that the hicurvated Lobsters ziill 



* spring with the activity of dolphins. Their 



