THE AMERICAN LOBSTER. 115 



in 1850, and to have weighed, when alive, 25 pounds. The body is a little longer than 

 the two first mentioned, but it is also slenderer, and the large claws, which count so 

 much in the weight of this animal, are, upon the whole, smaller and weigh less. The 

 greater length of the Salem specimen is due largely to the long, perfect rostrum. 

 The large claws correspond closely in size with those of the Boothbay lobster, and we 

 may be almost certain that its living weight did not exceed 22 pounds. 



A lobster but little under the Salem specimen in size is in the possession of Mr. 

 George R. Batson, of Campobello Island, New Brunswick. This lobster weighed, 

 when alive, according to the somewhat wavering memory of the man who weighed it, 

 24i pounds. The measurements fail to corroborate this statement. (No. 6, table 30.) 

 The dimensions of the large claws and the girth of the carapace prove conclusively 

 that it weighed less than 23 pounds, the authenticated weight of the Belfast lobster 

 (No. 1, table 30). It was captured in a hoop pot, a few of which are said to be still in 

 use, in South Bay, near Lubec, Maine, in 15 fathoms of water, September, 1892. This 

 lobster is a very shapely and perfect specimen. It had a hard shell, and showed 

 great activity when alive. 



In the museum of the Peabody Academy of Science there is also the right large 

 claw of a lobster marked, "From a lobster weighing 39 pounds; from Moses H. Shaw, 

 Gloucester." This is said to have been in the museum for over fifty years. Meas- 

 urements of this claw (No. 4, table 30), supposing the animal to have been normally 

 developed, show that it could have been but little larger than the Belfast specimen. 

 The only available comparisons lie between the large claw and the fifth joint the 

 only parts preserved. A full-sized drawing of this huge claw is produced on plate 

 15. The crushing claw of the Belfast lobster was nearly an inch longer and much 

 broader than the specimen figured, but less by one inch in girth. The claws of these 

 two animals must thus have been of nearly equal weight, and I think it a safe con- 

 clusion that the Gloucester giant did not weigh above 25 pounds. The shell of the 

 claw was very light for so large an animal, weighing only 16f ounces, including the 

 fifth joint. (See chapter III, pp. 82, 83.) 



In the museum of the Smithsonian Institution there are fragments of the skeleton 

 of a lobster which was captured with hook and line on the coast of Delaware, and is 

 said to have weighed over 25 pounds. Measurements of these parts show that its 

 weight was probably somewhat less, certainly not much over 22 pounds. (No. 5, 

 table 27.) The shell of the large claw of this lobster weighs 1£ pounds. 



In 1863 a large lobster was caught on a hand line at Bald Head Sands, near 

 Small Point, Maine, which I was assured by a fisherman weighed 38 pounds. I 

 afterwards had the opportunity of examining the large crushing-claw, all that has 

 been preserved of this lobster, at the market house of Mr. Lewis McDonald, Portland, 

 Maine. The claw is 12^ inches long, has a breadth of 6i inches, and a girth of 15£ 

 inches just behind the terminal joint. It was thus of about the same size as the 

 crushing-claw of the Salem lobster (No. 3, table 30), and the animal probably did not 

 exceed 22 pounds in entire weight. I mention this as an example of how the weight 

 of the lobster, though dead, increases with the lapse of time. 



There may be seen at the St. Nicholas Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, the skeleton 

 of a male lobster said to have weighed 35 to 40 pounds. It was captured off Province- 

 town, in August, 1894. When I examined this specimen, June 25, 1895, it was 

 mounted in a glass case in a very perfect state of preservation. Though not allowed 

 to take careful measurements, I could see that its weight had been greatly exag- 



