CRUSTACEOLOGY. 



399 



■mtacea. Great Britain. Some are taken by the hand, but tbe 

 ""V™"" far greater number in pots, a sort of trap formed of twigs, 

 and baited with garbage, (called /.reels) formed like a 

 mouse-trap, so that when the lobster gets in, there is 

 no return. These are fastened to cords and sunk into 

 the sea, and their place marked by a buoy. 



" They begin to breed in the spring, and continue 

 breeding most part of tbe summer. They are highly 

 prolific ; Dr Baster counted 1 2,4 44 eggs under the tail 

 of one female, besides those which remained in the body 

 unprotruded. They deposit these eggs in the sandy 

 where they are very soon hatched." 



" Lobsters change their crust annually, and previous 

 to their putting oft' their old one, they appear sick, lan- 

 guid, and restless. They totally acquire a new coat in 

 a few days ; but during the time they remain defence- 

 less, they seek some very lonely and remote place, lest 

 they should be devoured by such of their brethren as 

 are not in the same weak situation." Pennant. 



They are exceedingly voracious animals, and feed on 

 all sorts of dead bodies, sea-weeds, or garbage. 



Some very interesting particulars were communica- 

 ted to Mr Pennant by Mr Travis, from a variety of ob- 

 servations made by himself on the coast of Scarborough. 

 " Lobsters," he observes, " are found in great abun- 

 dance and very fine on that coast. The larger ones are 

 in general, in their best season, from the middle of Octo- 

 ber till the beginning of May. Many of the small ones, 

 and some of the larger sort, are good all the summer. 

 They are, in general, from four to four inches and a 

 half from the tip of the head to the extremity of the 

 back shell. Commonly the pincers of one of the lob- 

 ster's large claws are furnished with knobs, and those 

 of the other serrated ; with the former, it keeps firm 

 hold of the stalks of submarine plants, and with the 

 other it cuts and minces its food very dexterously. The 

 knobbed or numb-claw, as the fishermen sometimes call 

 it^is sometimes on the right side, and sometimes on the 

 left indifferently. It is more dangerous to be seized by 

 them with the cutting claw than the other, but in either 

 case, the quickest way to get disengaged, is to pluck off 

 the creature's claAV ; a new one will be produced in its 

 place, though it will never attain the size of the former. 

 The female or hen lobster, does not cast her shell the 

 same year that she deposits her ova, or in the common 

 phrase, her berry. When the ova first appear under her 

 tail, they are very small, and extremely black, but they 

 become in succession almost as large as ripe elder ber- 

 ries before they are deposited, and turn of a dark brown 

 colour, especially towards the end of her depositing 

 tune. They continue full and depositing the ova in 

 constant succession as long as the black substance can 

 be found in their body, which, when boiled, turns of a 

 beautiful red colour, and is then termed coral. Hen 

 lobsters are found in berry all the year. It is a com- 

 mon mistake that a berried hen is always in perfection 

 for the table. When her berries appear large and 

 brownish, she will always be found exhausted, watery, 

 and poor. Though the ova be cast all the year round, 

 they seem only to come to life during the summer 

 months of July and August. Great numbers of them 

 may be then found under the appearance of tadpoles 

 swimming about the little pools left by the tide amongst 

 the rocks, and many also under their proper form, from 

 half an inch to four inches in length. 



" In casting their shells, it is hard to conceive how 

 the lobsters are able to draw the flesh of their large, 

 claws out, leaving the shell entire and attached to their 

 body ;. in which state they are constantly found. The 



fishermen say the lobsters pine before casting their Crustacea, 

 shell, till the flesh of its large claw is no thicker than '*~~Y" mm/ 

 a goose quill, which enables them to draw its parts 

 through the joints and narrow passages near the trunk. 

 The new shell is quite membranaceous at first, but har- 

 dens by degrees. Lobsters only grow in size whilst their 

 shells are in a soft state. They are chosen for the table 

 by their being heavy in proportion to their size ; and by 

 the hardness of their shells on the sides, which, when 

 in perfection, will not yield to moderate pressure. Bar- 

 nacles, and other marine animals adhering to them, are 

 esteemed certain indications of superior goodness. Cock 

 lobsters are in general better than the hens in winter ; 

 they are distinguished by their narrow tails, and by 

 having a strong spine upon the centre of each of the 

 transverse processes beneath the tail, which support the 

 four middle plates of the tails. The flesh of the lobster's 

 claw is more tender and delicate than that of the tail. 

 The Scarborough fishermen do not take them in pots- 

 or kreels, as is usual in still and deep waters ; they use 

 a bag-net, fixed to an iron hoop, about two feet in dia- 

 meter, and suspended by three lines like a scale. The 

 bait is usually 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 : they are most frequently taken 

 at night, but even then it is not possible to take any when 

 the sea has a luminous appearance : (This is account- 

 ed for, by James Macartney, Esq. in a paper given by 

 him to the Royal Society, and published in the Philo- 

 sophical Transactions for 1810, p. 292.) In summer, 

 the lobsters are found near the shore, and thence to 

 about six fathoms water ; but in winter, they are seldom 

 taken in less than twelve or fifteen fathoms. Like in- 

 sects, they are much more active and alert in warm than 

 in cold weather. In the water, they can run nimbly 

 on their legs or small claws, and if alarmed, can spring' 

 tail foremost, to a surprising distance, as swift as a bird- 

 can fly." (This observation has been confirmed by that 

 indefatigable observer of nature, Patrick NeilJ, Esq. se- 

 cretary to the Wernerian and Horticultural Societies of 

 Edinburgh, who, in a tour made by him to the Orkney 

 Isles, says they skimmed along the surface of the sea 

 with amazing rapidity as the boats approached the 

 shore.) " The fishermen can see them pass about thirty 

 feet, and by the swiftness of their motions, suppose they 

 may go much farther. When frightened, they will spring 

 from a considerable distance to their hold in the rock; 

 and what is not less surprising than true, they will 

 throw themselves into their holds in that manner through 

 an entrance barely sufficient for their bodies to pass ; 

 as is frequently seen by the people who endeavour to 

 catch them at Filey Bridge. In frosty weather, if any 

 should happen to- be, found near the shore, they are 

 quite torpid and benumbed." 



Immense numbers of lobsters are .annually sent to Lon- 

 don from the Orkney Isles. Pennant mentions, in his 

 Tour to Scotland in 1 772, that 60,000 or " 0,000 are year- 

 ly sent from Montrose alone. They are said to fear thun- 

 der, and to cast their claws on a great clap; it is said 

 they will do the same on the firing of a great gun ; and 

 that when men of war meet with a lobster boat, a jo- 

 cular threat is used, that if the master does not sell 

 good lobsters, . they mill salute him. When frightened 

 or irritated, they frequently throw off their claws ; the 

 same thing happens when the poor animals are plunged 

 into the boiling pot for dressing. When first caught, 

 if only taken by one claw, they will throw it off and 

 so effect their escape. 



The circumstance of the reproduction of their claws, 



