THE LOBSTER. 



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help hisself . Is this your first visit to Baltimore ? " 

 Then turning to my friend she said, " You must take her 

 to the top of the monument." I thanked the kind old 

 creature for her information, though I could not quite 

 understand the relationship between her and the monu- 

 ment ; but I afterward learned that the top of the 

 monument is the highest expression of Baltimore hos- 

 pitality among all classes. 



I never saw the old woman again, nor did I again 

 see any lobsters, except in the shape of salad, till one 

 morning, not long ago, I found one on the professor's 

 table in the lecture-room at South Kensington. Then 

 I thought of where I saw my first lobster in the Balti- 

 more market, and how the old fish-monger laughed at 

 my ignorance and wanted me to see the monument. 

 When you first try to study the lobster, you will per- 

 haps think as I thought, " How can I ever straighten out 

 such a queer crusty, clawy, lanky, linky, leggy-looking 

 thing as that % " It seems to be made up of all sorts of 

 odds and ends, regardless of expense or plan. You will 

 have no idea where to begin or where to stop. But 

 though the lobster looks as hard as compound numbers 

 or the Greek alphabet, he is as easy as simple addition 

 or you own A, B, 0, when once you find him out. You 

 know the coeolla, or crown, of the bean looked so 

 hard, but it all came out nicely into five leaves, or pet- 



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