THE AMERICAN LOBSTER. 
81 
It is stated in the annual report of the inspector of fisheries of Prince Edward 
Island {209, p. 230) for 1880 that soft-shell lobsters u are seldom seen on the north side 
of the island, while on the south side almost all that are caught in the month of July 
are soft and unfit for canning.” A canner in Queens County says that scarcely a 
lobster can be caught before the 20tli of May. Soft-shell lobsters begin to abound by 
the 1st of August and continue abundant during this month. One-third of the lobsters 
caught during August are said to be soft-shelled. The fishery officer for Cape Breton 
states in his report for 1888 {210) that no soft-shell lobsters were captured during the 
fishing season which closed July 28. 
♦ 
THE MOLTING PROCESS. 
Next to reproducing its kind, the act of molting is the most important in the life 
of this animal. The whole body is covered, as we have seen, by a ehitiuous shell, in 
which salts ot' lime are deposited, giving to parts of it the hardness of stone. Molting 
consists of two distinct phenomena: (1) the formation of a new shell and (2) the rejection 
of the old. When once formed the shell admits of no increase in size, since it is a 
dead structure, excreted by the skin below it, and when it is outgrown it must be 
cast oft' and replaced by a new and larger shell. The new shell is gradually excreted 
under the old one, and when the latter is discarded the new shell is soft and flexible 
and is easily distended to meet the requirements of growth. The growth of the lobster, 
and of every arthropod, thus apparently takes place, from infancy to old age, by a series 
of stages characterized by the growth of a new shell under the old, by the shedding of 
the outgrown old shell, a sudden increase in size, and the gradual hardening of the 
shell newly formed. Not only is the external skeleton cast off in the molt and the 
linings of the masticatory stomach, the oesophagus and intestine, but also the internal 
skeleton, which consists for the most part of a complicated linkwork of hard tendons. 
This is rendered possible from the fact that these structures are derived from infolded 
portions of the skin, and in molting they are simply drawn out of their original folds 
or pockets. It is thus easy to see why the molting process is critical. 
The frequency of the molting period depends directly upon the physiological 
condition of the animal, which varies with its environment. The molting process is 
both an expensive and dangerous operation, and calls for a considerable excess of 
energy. Since it is largely dependent upon the condition of the individual, which is 
subject to wide variation, the molt does not take place at any stated time, but may 
occur in any month of the year, though but rarely in the spring. Warmer weather, a 
more active life, and a more vigorous appetite, which are characteristic of the lobster 
during the warmest part of the year, are most favorable, as we have seen, to the 
renewal of the shell. The lobster, though a carnivorous and voracious animal, 
feeds less in winter, when its habits are relatively sluggish. Broken limbs and 
injuries to the shell are then but slowly repaired, and there is less energy to be 
drawn upon in molting. 
The growth of the crustacean takes place during the period of the molt, while the 
new shell is being formed, and not immediately after the ecdysis, as is commonly 
believed. It was clearly shown by Vitzou that the old shell is gradually thrown off 
in consequence of the growth during the molting period, when the animal tends to 
become larger than its envelope. The rapid swelling out of the body after the old 
shell is gotten rid of is due to the absorption of water through the new shell into the 
blood and tissues, not to cellular growth. 
F. C. B. 1895—6 
