414 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



The remarkable fact comes out from these figures 

 that the live weight of each lobster shows a tendency to 

 increase, even in a period of complete absence of feeding 

 of over seven months. Thus in the case of Lobster No. 1, 

 after more than seven months, the weight is 301'7, instead 

 of 301*9 at the beginning, and in the case of Lobster 

 No. 4, the corresponding weights are 224" 7 grams at the 

 beginning, and 2264 at the end, an actual increase of 

 1*7 grams after over seven months without food. 



It looks at first sight as if the animals were 

 obtaining ample nutrition from the pure sea-water alone, 

 but the analytical results furnish the explanation, which 

 is, that the tissues are simply becoming more and more 

 water-logged, or diluted in their content of organic matter. 

 The metabolism of the animal, so far as its own individual 

 needs are concerned, is so slow that there is ample provi- 

 sion for an existence of many months without food. 



The rate of oxidation is also slowed during the later 

 part of the seven months' period. To illustrate this the 

 oxygen consumption of three of the animals on the first 

 and last days of the period may be cited as follows : — 



Lobster No. 1 : At commencement (May, i913), 

 oxygen consumption 120 milligrams per diem; at end 

 (January, 1914), 75 milligrams per diem. 



Lobster No. 2: At commencement (June, 1913), 140 

 milligrams per diem ; at end (January, 1914), 84 milligrams 

 per diem. 



Lobster No. 4 : At commencement (May, 1913), 

 140 milligrams per diem; at end (January, 1914), 80 milli- 

 grams per diem. 



Attention may now be turned to the amounts of 

 oxidisable material in the three sets of lobsters as shown 

 by the analyses made at the end of the experiments. The 

 tables show that there is a distinct difference after a 

 month of fasting, but at the conclusion of the seven 

 months' period the oxidisable substances are so markedly 



