38. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE COMMON CRAYFISH. 
the limb, which remains in the hand of the captor, while 
the crayfish escapes. This voluntary amputation is always 
effected at the same place; namely, where the limb is 
slenderest, just beyond the articulation which unites the 
basal joint with the next. The other limbs also readily 
part at the joints; and it is very common to meet with 
crayfish which have undergone such mutilation, But — 
the injury thus inflicted is not permanent, as these 
animals possess the power of reproducing lost parts to 
a marvellous extent, whether the loss has been inflicted 
by artificial amputation, or voluntarily. 
Crayfishes, like all the Crustacea, bleed very freely when 
wounded; and if one of the large joints of a leg is cut 
through, or if the animal’s body is injured, it is very likely 
to die rapidly from the ensuing hemorrhage. A cray- 
fish thus wounded, however, commonly throws off the 
‘limb at the next articulation, where the cavity of the 
limb is less patent, and its sides more readily fall 
together ; and, as we have seen, the pincers are usually 
cast off at their narrowest point. When such amputation 
has taken place, a crust, probably formed of coagulated 
blood, rapidly forms over the surface of the stump; and, 
eventually, it becomes covered with a cuticle. Beneath 
this, after a time, a sort of bud grows out from the 
centre of the surface of the stump, and gradually takes 
on the form of as much of the limb as has been removed. 
At the next ecdysis, the covering cuticle is thrown off 
along with the rest of the exoskeleton; while the rudi- 
