r!34 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



The '* comers " are put by themselves in a crab car, which is a 

 float about 10'x4' with a bottom of boards and with sides about a 

 foot high, of laths placed perpendicularly. These are moored 

 along a platform and float, so that there is about 6 inches of 

 water in them. The crabs are thus easily watched and can be 

 reached with a net. 



In the process of shedding the carapace splits all along under 

 the edge, and the top is raised up, disclosing the soft new skin 

 underneath. In this stage they are known as " busters " or 

 " peelers " and are carefully removed to another car, so that 

 they will not be injured by the more active " comers." The crab 

 in this stage is covered With a thin membrane, which prevents 

 the water from getting on the new shell. If it becomes broken, 

 the crab dies, in the parlance of the fishermen, from " drowning." 



The active process of shedding takes place by muscular action, 

 the crab gradually drawing its body out through the wide open- 

 ing of the dorsal part of the old shell and pulling the legs out 

 through the openings at their bases. Once out of its shell, the 

 crab lies helpless on the bottom of the car and must at once be 

 taken out, or it will soon commence to harden and become what is 

 called a " paper shell." The soft shell crabs are carefully taken 

 out of the water as soon as they have shed and are packed with 

 their anterior end upward with damp eelgrass, in shallow boxes, 

 for shipment to market. Packed in this way, they will not * 

 harden for some time. For shedding purposes, the female crabs 

 are preferred, as they appear to stand the process better and 

 " set up " in a better manner after shedding. 



