Crustacea. 



lOI 



and Sweden ; these are sold at ^d. to 6d. each, according 

 to size. Those less than eight inches, or which have lost 

 a claw, are only worth half this price, and they are now 

 prohibited to be sold. 



The Cape lobster {Palinuriis Lalandii, Lam.) is used as 

 food by the colonists. It is peculiar to the west coast, and 

 common in Table Bay ; is easily caught in vast numbers 

 all the year round, and attains a length of 13 inches and a 

 breadth of nearly five inches. The flesh of the half-grown 

 individual is tender and delicate, but that of the adult is 

 coarse and difficult of digestion. To the poorer classes this 

 crustacean is a regular godsend, and it is occasionally 

 dried for preservation. 



A part of the west coast of New Jersey, not far from 

 Cape May, is infested in May and June by swarms of huge 

 inedible crabs, and these are collected and ground up for 

 manure. As to their eggs, one may almost say that the 

 sand of the beach consists of their eggs, for they are scooped 

 up by the bushel and thrown to the pigs and poultry. 



A large number of fine crabs are caught on the coasts 

 of Norway, which only cost about \d. or id. each on the 

 spot. They are met with in incredible numbers in the 

 fiords on the west coast, especially where it is rocky. There 

 are often 40 or 50 taken at a time in a cask or crab-pot, 

 and they are frequently 11 inches long. The crab is not 

 eaten by the coast populations, and it sells at a very low 

 price, even in the markets of Bergen and Stavanger. Crabs 

 are chiefly used cut up for fish bait. Lately an attempt 

 has been made to preserve them in tins for export, and 

 specimens were sent to the Paris Exhibition in 1878. 



A fishery for small crayfish is carried on in the bays of 

 the river Konki, in Russia, and the tails are dried for 

 sale. A pound will contain about 300 of these pieces. 



