FOOD FROM THE CRUSTACEANS AND MOLLUSCA. S77 



Newchang, 2,000 cwi. of dried shrimps are sent to other 

 parts of China. 



Of the crustaceans, the lobster is that which is princi- 

 pally in demand, although the more common crab is, of 

 the two, most digestible and nourishing. But the lobster 

 has always been held in estimation as a food delicacy, 

 and from being so sought for, leads to a very extensive 

 commerce. 



Lobsters. — About 3 million lobsters are annually taken 

 in Norway and Sweden, and of these over 1 million 

 are sent to England, sometimes 1^ million have been 

 shipped. They are sold at from 8d. to 6d., according to 

 size. Those which are not 21 centimetres, or which have 

 cast a claw, are only worth one-half. They are kept in 

 reservoirs and sent off in sailing vessels which take 

 15,000 to 20,000 at a time. 



The shell of the Norwegian lobster {Nephrops nor- 

 vegicus) is thin and of a bright red colour ; that of the 

 Scotch lobster {Homarus gammarus, Astacus marinus, Fab.) 

 is thick, and when boiled of a dark colour and covered 

 with white specks. 



Besides our home supplies — of which we have no very 

 reliable returns — the bulk of our imports come from 

 Norway and Sweden, and it may be interesting to glance 

 at the statistics of the trade. Lobsters are brought to 

 Greenock in large numbers from the western islands, 

 chiefly from Skye, in boxes containing from four to five 

 dozen, and are there transferred for facility and economy 

 of carriage by rail, to tea chests, into each of which from 

 fifty to a hundred, according to size, are carefully 

 packed, and forwarded regularly and in large quan- 

 tities, in this way, to Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, 

 and London, in each of which towns is located a branch 

 of a great firm — originally of Aberdeen — to whom are 

 continually consigned enormous quantities of fish from 

 all parts of the coast. Much might be done on the 

 coasts of the British islands in the matter of lobsters, 

 especially in Ireland. In a report on the Irish Fisheries, 

 it was stated that: — "Lobsters may be taken in any 



