THE AMERICAN LOBSTER. 
17 
CHARACTER OF THE ENVIRONMENT. 
Where there is great diversity of natural conditions throughout the geograph- 
ical range of an animal we may expect to fiud its habits varying in a proportionate 
degree. From Labrador to Maine the Atlantic coast is rocky, and often precipitous, 
with deep bays and harbors, and with large islands, some like Grand Manan pre- 
senting sheer perpendicular walls to the sea. The coast of Maine, in its middle and 
eastern sections, is essentially bold and rocky, and diversified to an extraordinary 
degree by channels cut by large fresh-water rivers, by long deep inlets, studded with 
islands large and small, by bold rocky promontories, and by groups of larger islands 
farther from shore, such as the Yiual Haven or Fox islands. These are masses of gray 
granite, scarred and cut up by glacial forces into an archipelago of smaller islands, 
abounding in long granite basins and inlets, into which pure sea water is driven 
with every tide. Thus are formed the most admirable breeding-grounds for the 
lobster, for fish, and other marine animals. In the region of Cape Cod we meet with 
extensive shoals, which resemble on a smaller scale those of North Carolina. The 
northern part of the Massachusetts coast is rocky, while the southern section is 
greatly diversified, abounding in submerged ledges, sandy and weedy bottom, and a 
great variety of bays and channels in the vicinity of the Elizabeth Islands, where 
lobsters used to abound until their numbers were depleted by overfishing. 
Under the variety of conditions which I have hinted at, we should not only expect 
to find lobsters larger and more abundant in some localities than elsewhere, a condition 
greatly influenced by the number and persistence of fishermen, but also to meet with 
variations in the time of laying and hatching of the eggs, in the season of molting, in 
the time when the semiannual movements are undertaken, in color, and in a variety 
of other details. 
The habits of the lobster as affected by the changes of season and other causes 
in the various stages of its life will be described, as we have been able to interpret 
them, in different parts of this work. Certain habits, however, are often so closely 
interrelated that the mere mention of one requires a consideration of others also. 
INTELLIGENCE OF THE LOBSTER. 
Since the lobster belongs to a less specialized class than the crab, it is not surprising 
to find that its intelligence is of a lower order. Sluggish as it often appears when out 
of water and partially exhausted, it is quite a different animal when free to move at 
will in its natural environment on the sea bottom. It is very cautious and cunning, 
capturing its prey by stealth, and with weapons which it knows how to conceal. 
Lying hidden in a bunch of seaweed, in a crevice among the rocks or in its burrow in 
the mud, it waits until its victim is within reach of its claws, before striking the fatal 
blow. The senses of sight and hearing are probably far from acute, but it possesses 
a keen sense of touch, and of smell, and probably also a sense of taste. We have, 
moreover, seen that it is quite sensitive to changes in temperature. 
All animals which play the part of scavengers have strong powers of scent, and 
the lobster is no exception to the rule. This is illustrated by the way in which it can 
be enticed into the traps. Thus it is asserted that where traps are set on a trawl 
placed across the tide, the catch is greater than when the trawl is set in the direction 
F. C. B. 1895—2 
