26 



TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



the fittest.' Whenever some hundreds of larvae are 

 confined together in the comparatively small space of a 

 tank, about 2 per cent, or 3 per cent, only reach the 

 lobsterling stage. It apparently matters not whether 

 they are artificially fed or left to exercise their canni- 

 balistic propensities — the result is in all cases practically 



Fig. 11. Newly-hatched young lobster. From a photograph by 

 Mr. Edwin Thompson. 



the same. No difference in the rate of mortality at the 

 periods of larval ecdysis has been observed between 

 artificially fed larvae and those which have lived entirely 

 upon their weaker brethren. The mortality at the 

 periods of ecdysis was exceedingly heavy amongst the 

 1,400 larvae in the hatchery tank, though they were fed 

 at frequent intervals and supplied with abundance of 

 circulating water." 



