116 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



gerated. The total length of the body, measured from the rostral spine to the end of 

 the tail-fan, when the tail was naturally articulated with the thorax, was not far from 

 20 inches, and not over 21 inches. The length of the large crushing-claw is from 12 

 to 13 inches. The cutting-claw is relatively smaller than in any of the large lobsters 

 which I have examined, and it seems fairly certain that the living weight of the 

 animal could not have much exceeded 20 pounds. 



I am indebted to the kindness of Professor Leslie A. Lee for the measurements of 

 the large crushing-claw of a lobster which is preserved in the museum of Bowdoin 

 College, Maine. It was taken from an animal which came from Cape Breton, which 

 is said to have weighed 33 pounds 11 ounces. The length of this claw is 13-jV inches, 

 its breadth 6| inches, and its girth (measured just behind the first joint) is 16 inches. 

 In this case the weight is specifically given, yet it is certainly erroneous. 1 If normally 

 formed, this animal probably did not weigh over 23 pounds. I base this opinion upon 

 the fact that the Belfast lobster (No. 1, table 30) has a somewhat larger crushing-claw, 

 is normally formed, has a hard shell, and therefore could not, in all probability, have 

 weighed less and may have weighed more than the specimen from Cape Breton. 



In the museum of Yale University there is preserved the large crushing-claw of 

 a lobster, which is said to have weighed 39 pounds. 2 The length of the claw is 12/ 6 - 

 inches, the greatest width 6.9 inches, and the greatest girth 16f inches. It is shorter 

 by half an inch than the Cape Breton specimen, and but little larger in circumference. 

 The length of the crushing chela falls short of the Belfast lobster (No. 1, table 30) by 

 one inch. Its weight probably did not much exceed 23 pounds, if at all. 



In the collections of the Smithsonian Institution there is a lobster which weighed, 

 after preservation in alcohol, 9 pounds 14 ounces (No. 7, table 30). 3 The cutting-claw 

 on the right side was undersized. A few measurements of this specimen are given 

 for purposes of comparison. There is far less difference between some of these and 

 corresponding measurements of larger lobsters than one might expect. Thus the 

 telson in this case has the same dimensions as in lobster No. 6 (table 30), which 

 weighed more than twice as much. 



I was informed by Mr. F. W. Collins that a male lobster which weighed nearly 

 25 pounds was taken on a trawl below Monro Island, 5 miles east of Rockland, Maine, 

 in the summer of 1890. The large claw is said to have measured 16 inches in girth. 



I heard through Mr. Vinal Edwards of a lobster, said to have weighed 27 pounds, 

 which was caught off Bretou Reef, Newport, Rhode Island, in June, 1894. This was 

 taken by accident, one of its claws having been entangled in a lobster-pot, in 10 to 12 

 fathoms of water. It was a male, and its shell was freely sprinkled with barnacles. 4 



I will add a few notes on the occurrence of large lobsters, which I gathered on the 

 coast of Maine, in August and September, 1893. I give them upon the testimony of 

 others, but believe them trustworthy. 



Mr. J. W. Savage stated that he received from the region of Eastport, Maine, in 



'Professor Lee writes as follows concerning this specimen: "The large lobster's claw in our 

 museum was obtained many years ago in Cape Breton. It came into our possession in 1881. The 

 weight of this animal is not well authenticated on our records." 



2 I am indebted to Prof. A. E. Verrill for the opportunity of examining this specimen. The 

 inscription upon it, which is almost illegible, is as follows: "Boston, Mass., March, 1823; 39 lbs." 



'The weight of th'S lobster was kindly determined by Mr. James E. Benedict of the Smithsonian 

 Institution. 



4 1 was unable to obtain any direct information about this lobster, or to verify its weight, which, 

 I do not consider authentic. 



