LiObster (Homarus Sp.) or Crayflsli (Astacus Sp.) 



Mate-rial. — On account of their large size it is better 

 to use lobsters than crayfishes. Live lobsters may be 

 purchased at the markets of all cities near the seaboard, 

 and are often to be obtained inland. They may be sent 

 by express if packed in damp sea-weed, and will endure 

 a journey of forty-eight hours without difficulty. On 

 arrival the packing material should be sprinkled liber- 

 ally with sea-water (artificial, if necessary), or the lob- 

 sters may be transferred bodily to vessels of such water. 

 Should any of the specimens be found to be dead at the 

 end of their journey, they should either be examined at 

 once or, better, placed in fifty per cent, alcohol for a 

 day, being careful to puncture the shell in places to per- 

 mit of the entrance of the alcohol to the parts beneath, 

 then into seventy -five per cent, and ninety per cent., 

 each for the same length of time. They may be pre- 

 served indefinitely in the latter grade of alcohol. It is 

 possible to use boiled lobsters, but the results obtained 

 are seldom satisfactory. Crayfishes may be found un- 

 der stones, etc., in sandy and rocky rivers and creeks 

 throughout the central portion of the country. Except 

 in winter, they may be caught as wanted, or, if to be 

 used during the winter, they may be kept in aquaria of 

 running water, supplied with plenty of aquatic plants, 

 or in a sink into which no refuse is thrown, and be fed 

 from time to time with small scraps of fresh meat or 



