1877.] A Few Words about Scavengers. 133 
It is not pleasant for the epicure to learn that the lobster 
(Figure 21) is essentially a scavenger; but in a list of scaven- 
gers this and other crustaceans, notwithstanding their exhibi- 
tion of true predaceous habits, cannot be omitted. They eagerly 
feed upon the dead organic materials which they find at the bot- 
tom of the ocean. The lobster fishermen well understand the 
scavenger habits of these crustaceans, and accordingly bait their 
lobster traps with pieces of fishes and of other animals, and then 
sink them to the bottom. What a wonderful chemistry these 
animals must possess to enable them to convert refuse animal 
matter into the delicious white muscle which most of us relish 
so much! And here it may be remarked that crustaceans are 
among the few gers whose flesh is prized for food by man. 
(Fig. 21.) AMERICAN LOBSTER (HOMARUS AMERICANUS). 
Most scavengers are of benefit to man only by aiding in keeping 
the air and the waters pure. 
The mollusks have their scavengers. The strombs, whose 
heavy broad-lipped and deeply notched shells (Figure 22) are 
familiar objects in all of our museums, are prominent examples. 
The strombs are reckoned among the carnivorous gasteropods, 
but they are carnivorous in the same sense as are the vultures 
among birds, — they are carrion-eaters. And in this same cate- 
sory belong the slugs (Limax), and others. 
Clams, oysters, mussels, ete. (Figure 23), are to a certain ex- 
tent scavengers. They feed upon whatever organie particles 
are brought to the mouth by the vibratile cilia of the gills. It 
ìs thus, in part, that these mollusks remove the fine particles 
from turbid and impure waters and ultimately render them clear. 
