NATURAL HISTORY OF AMERICAN I^OBSTER. 179 



or try to pin them down with an oar, and they will dart backward toward deeper water ; 

 if still pursued they flee in other directions, zigzagging their way over the bottom until 

 safety is found at still greater depths. 



Lobsters kept in aquaria of sufficient size and provided with running water often 

 thrive, and if they receive proper care will live for a long period. If the tank is pro- 

 vided with a pile of stones, the lobster will examine this carefully until the most attrac- 

 tive holes are discovered. When several individuals are placed in the same aquarium, 

 each soon selects a hole or comer, for the possession of which it is always ready to fight. 

 This is true of the "lobsterUngs" as well as the adults, showing that the power of asso- 

 ciation or of the formation of habits, which is the mark of intelligence, is well developed. 

 When the occupants of the same aquarium are of equal size and show no weakness, they 

 usually live in peace; but should one become disabled, as by the loss of a claw, it is 

 quickly attacked by the strong and forthwith destroyed. 



As the lobster lies in its comer of the aquarium, usually with the tail folded, and 

 always so if a female in "berry," it slowly sweeps the water with its long, sensitive 

 antennae, which are now held erect, now lowered, until they lie horizontal and extend 

 directly forward in front of the body. The smaller antennae are elevated, while the 

 stouter outer branch of each beats with a rythmical up-and-down movement; this 

 branch carries the delicate hairs or setae, which are regarded as the organs of smell. 

 One often sees the animal dehberately lower the whip-Uke branches of the first pair of 

 anteimae and clean them by drawing them through the brushes of the large maxillipeds; 

 the great claws when not extended and ready for immediate use are turned obUquely 

 inward and downward, with their tips touching the bottom. 



All animals that play the part of scavengers must have strong powers of scent or 

 keen eyes to guide them to their prey, and lobsters are no exception to this rtde. The 

 turkey buzzard sees, but, according to Audubon and Bachman, can not scent its prey, 

 while the lobster, though dull of sight, has a keen chemical or "olfactory" sense. This 

 is illustrated by the way in which it can be enticed into the traps. It is asserted that 

 when traps are set on a trawl placed across the tide, the catch is greater than when the 

 trawl is set in the direction of the current, since in the former case the chemical sub- 

 stances, or fine particles coming from the bait, are more widely diffused. Ivobsters are 

 sometimes wary and shy of entering a trap, and have been seen to crawl about it several 

 times and examine it cautiously on all sides before, too weak or too hungry to resist 

 temptation, they fimally enter. When the pots are hauled, lobsters sometimes escape 

 by darting backward through the narrow opening of one of the funnels, but this seldom 

 happens and may be set down to accident. 



Sluggish as the lobster may appear when out of the water and partially exhausted, 

 it is quite a different animal, as we have just seen, when free to move at will in its 

 natural abode on the bottom of the sea. In the water it is agile, wary, pugnacious, 

 capable of defending itself against enemies often larger and more powerful than itself, 

 and on occasion of exhibiting a high degree of speed. It often captures its prey by 

 stealth and with concealed weapons. Lying hidden in a bunch of seaweeds, in a rock 

 62399°— II 3 



