POPULAR HISTORY 
OF 
BRITISH CRUSTACEA. 
INTRODUCTION. 
A London fishmonger told the writer that some of the 
largest shell-fish dealers in the Metropolis sold, every year, 
as many as sixty thousand Lobsters and twelve thousand 
Crabs. He assured him that many an ordinary fishmonger 
in London found sale for some eight or ten thousand of 
these Crustacean commodities. But who can calculate the 
number of Shrimps and Prawns consumed annually in Lon- 
don by those who are fond of such dainties ? Bushels of 
the former are daily sold in Billingsgate to be retailed by 
the pint, there being from 100 to 150 Shrimps in every 
pint; while hundreds of pounds^ weight of Prawns meet 
with purchasers, who find 200 Prawns in every pound, and 
B 
