214 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
PROPORTION OF WASTE TO EDIBLE PARTS IN THE LOBSTER. 
Atwater (n), in his chemical analysis of the flesh of the lobster, gives the propor- 
tion of the edible parts and shell as follows: 
Per cent. 
Total edible portion 39-77 
Shell.- 57.47 
Loss in cleaning , 2.76 
100. 00 
The proportions of water and dry substance in the edible portion are estimated as 
follows : 
Water 82. 73 
Dry substance 17-27 
100. 00 
In this relation the analysis given in table 3 will be of interest. These data were 
obtained from a 13-inch (boiled) female lobster, with shell of medium hardness. Liter- 
ally all of the soft and edible parts were carefully removed from the skeleton and 
weighed. This, without doubt, accounts for the higher percentage of “edible” parts 
obtained when compared with the result quoted above, it being assumed that all of the 
soft tissues of this animal are edible and wholesome excepting the stomach and intestine. 
The flesh of the lobster is rich in nitrogenous or proteid substances and contains a 
considerable amount of phosphorus and sulphur. Its nutritive value as compared with 
beef taken as a standard is 61.97 P er cent ( IJ )- 
Table 3. — Showing Relation of Edible to Waste Parts in the Lobster. 
Edible parts. 
Pounds. 
Ounces. 
Waste. 
Pounds. 
Ounces. 
(1) Tail muscles 
0 
8 H 
(8) Shell and "lady” or 
(2) Meat of great claws, including joints of great cheli- 
stomach sac 
1 
6 
(3) "Cream, ”or clotted blood from great chclipeds 
0 
(4) Fine picked-out meat from linkwork of body and 
smaller appendages, including gastric, mandibu- 
lar muscles, and green glands 
0 
7 K 
(5) "Cream,” or clotted blood from body under shell . . 
0 
2 7 /& 
(6) "Coral, ” or ovaries 
0 
2 
(7) " Tomally, ” or liver 
0 
2 Yz 
Total weight of claw and tail meat, 1 pound. 
9 
Total weight of items i to 9, 3 pounds 9% ounces. 
Estimated living weight, 4 pounds 4 1 / 2 ounces. 
Dead weight, 3 pounds 9% ounces. 
Percentage of clear meat in claws and tail, 27. 
Percentage of all clear meat and edible parts, 55. 
Total cost at current retail-market price, at 25 cents per pound, at Tilton, N. H., June 27, 1903, 90 cents. 
Cost per pound of clear meat of big claws and tail (items 1 and 2), 90 cents. 
Cost per pound of clear meat and other edible parts not usually saved (items 4-7), 45 cents. 
