252 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Now the proportion of non-berried females to males 

 is pretty much the same in the two tables, viz., 108 '6 to 

 100 in the first, and 106'3 to 100 in the second, so that 

 stripping is to be expected as much in the second instance 

 as in the first. 



Brit as the figures in the second column were supplied 

 by our Fishery officer at New Quay who fished himself, 

 they exclude all possibility of stripping. He was not 

 allowed to sell the fish he caught, so even the possibility 

 of a little surreptitious gain or profit through stripping 

 is excluded. And as the officer was unaware of the 

 purpose of the returns he made, he cannot be accused of 

 " cooking " them to produce any desired result. 



So much, then, for the " widespread occurrence " 

 of stripping of berried lobsters in the Lancashire and 

 Western District. 



