FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 



291 



her back and folds the tail so as to form a kind of chamber to retain the eggs. After 

 their discharge from the body the eggs become coated with a cement substance 

 secreted by glands in the swimmerets; this substance hardens after being in contact 

 with the water and firmly anites the eggs to the hair-like filaments on the swimmerets. 

 The exact method by which the fertilizing principle is conveyed to the eggs from the 

 pouch in which it is contained is not known. 



"The incubative period is much prolonged. After the eggs are extruded and 

 become attached externally, they are carried ten or eleven months before hatching 

 ensues ; during this time they are carefully protected, and are perfectly aerated by 

 the active motion of the swimmerets. On the United States coast most of the lobsters 

 emerge from the eggs in June, although some of the hatching is completed in May 

 and some in July, or even later. A few eggs are now known to hatch in winter. AIL 

 of the embryos do not come from the eggs at the same time, the hatching occupying 

 a week or more. The young receive no attention from the adults, but lead an inde- 

 pendent existence immediately after escaping from the egg. 



"The lobster egg is about one fifteenth of an inch in diameter. When newly laid 

 it is usually of a dark-green color, but is sometimes light grayish or yellowish green. 



"The known maximum number of eggs produced at one time by a lobster is 

 97,440; the average from lobsters taken for market 

 is 10,000 or 12,000. The number depends largely 

 on the size of the lobster, apparently in conformity 

 to the following rule : The numbers of eggs laid by 

 given lobsters vary in a geometric scale, while the 

 lengths of the lobsters vary in an arithmetic scale. 



"The following table illustrates, with approx- 

 imate accuracy, the egg-producing capacities of 

 lobsters of the lengths indicated under normal con- 

 ditions : 



LENGTH 



NUMBER 



OF LOBSTER. 



OF EGGS LAID. 



8 inches, 



5,000 



10 inches, 



10,000 



12 inches, 



20,000 



14 inches, 



40,000 



16 inches, 



8o,0OO 



"MOULTING AND GROWTH. 



"The act of shedding the shell, or moulting, is 

 important and critical. It is only after shedding 

 that growth takes place ; during the early stages 



A SPECIAL PERFORMANCE. 



