Stanford University, Caufornia 
December 17, 194-0 
Dr, Waldo L. Schmitt, 
United States Department of the Interior 
Bureau of Fisheries 
Smithsonian Institution 
Washington, D. ,C. 
Dear Waldo: 
The crabs arrived today (Tuesday, Dec. 17), 
apparently having been four days on the road, since the 
bill of lading bore the date of December 13. The dry ice 
was not all gone and the crabs were fresh. 
The consistency of the shell was unusual to me, 
possibly since it is a new species to handle fresh. On the 
other hand the dry ice may have softened the shell, the 
concentrated atmosphere of CO 2 would in part go into solution, 
giving carbonic acid and m.ight in four days soften the shell. 
On the other hand, some barnacles did not appear softened. 
Because of these circumstances we can give only a guess 
at the stage of hardness. The female was the softer (perhaps^ 
influenced by the smaller size) and we tentatively place it in 
B 2 , the male either B 2 or This early stage does not well 
agree with the presence of carnacles, some of which were at 
least 1 cm. in diameter. The epidermis separated rather readily 
from the rest of the shell but v/e could not consider this a 
D stage (nearing molt) because the muscle attachments were 
firm."^ We took out and preserved the stomachs but both were 
nearly emipty, perhaps from post mortemi digestion. Do you 
wish them forwarded to you? 
The crabs, after examination, were turned over to 
George Myers for the invertebrate collection here at the 
University. Could you furnish us with the locality from 
which they were taken so that they may be properly labellea* 
I am sorry that your travels did not bring you through 
Palo Alto again. I should like very much to discuss with you 
your experience with the crabs in Alaska and I shall await 
your letter on the subject with interest. 
FWW:T 
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