THE AMERICAN LOBSTER. 85 



quiet upon its side, but the muscles of all its appendages are undergoing violent con- 

 traction as the animal tugs and wrestles violently as if to free itself from ropes which 

 bind it down firmly on every side. The carapace is unbroken, yet the two halves bend 

 as upon a hinge along the median furrow. Presently the pressed-down bases of the 

 antenna}, the eyestalks, and the bent-down rostrum of the new shell can just be seen. 

 No part of the covering of the large claws or of any of the legs has been split or 

 cracked. The muscular masses of the powerful claws have been withdrawn through 

 their narrow openings without a rent. Finally a few kicks free the entire anterior half 

 of the body, the antennae, chelipeds, and various other parts, which now lie above or 

 to one side of the old covering. The "tail" has been gradually breaking away from 

 its old case, and as soon as the forward part of the body is withdrawn the lobster gives 

 one or two final switches and is free. The newly molted lobster has a very sleek and 

 fresh appearance, and its colors were never brighter or more attractive. Try to take it 

 up in the hand, after some time has elapsed, and it feels as limp as wet paper; but 

 immediately after casting the shell the muscles of the crustacean are hard and tense, 

 probably from being in a state of cramp or tetanus. Every part of the old shell down to 

 a microscopic hair has been reproduced in the new one, but in the latter the fringes 

 of stiff setre are as soft as silk, the strong ends of the claws, the rostrum, and every 

 spine of the body so soft as to easily bend beneath the finger. The large claws are 

 considerably distorted, as well as some of the other parts, being squeezed and drawn 

 out to an unnatural length. After getting clear of the old shell the animal is not 

 inclined to activity. It soon orients itself, however, resting in the usual way, and is 

 capable of moving about with some degree of agility by the flexure of the tail. Fisher- 

 men who have had lobsters shed in cars and traps have often been surprised by the 

 ease with which they sometimes slip through their fingers. 



The length of the cast shell of this lobster was 11J inches. Shortly after the 

 molt the lobster was 12 inches long. On July 17, four days after molting, the length 

 was a little short of 12^ inches. The increase in length was thus very nearly 1 J inches. 

 The actual increase in size of the different parts of the body can be best appreciated 

 by comparisons of plates 45 a, and 45 b, which represent life-size drawings of a lobster 

 before and several hours after the molt. The measurements in this case were 5i and 

 6£ inches, the increase in length beiug just 1 inch. 



Reaumur remarked on the hardness of the flesh of the crayfish immediately after 

 exuviation, and, as Huxley says (103): 



In the absence of the hard skeleton there is nothing to bring the contracted muscles at once back 

 into position, and it must be some time before the pressure of the internal fluids is so distributed as 

 to stretch them out. 



Hyatt (104) said of the large claws of a molted lobster : 



They were exceedingly hard and firm, and I have no doubt would have been extremely good 

 eating if we had dared to indulge in such extravagance. This is entirely contrary to the usual 

 accounts, but it agrees with my former observations on the common blue crab, of which I have seen 

 hundreds directly after molting, and they are always firm and delicious eating if taken at this time. 

 In fact, the watery aspect usually attributed to the newly molted crustacean did not appear until some 

 time after the lobster was placed in our live tank. 



Very soon after molting the lobster is ready to take food, the body, owing to the 

 absorption of water, plumps out to its natural shape, and the limit of increase in the 

 volume of the body is reached. 



