LOBSTER. 
543 
greater than it is. Mr. Pennant received an ac- 
curate account of the natural history of this animal 
from Mr. Travis of Scarborough ; and as it contains 
all the information that can be desired upon the 
subject, we shall take the liberty to insert it in the 
words of the author. 
£f We have vast numbers of fine lobsters on the 
rocks near our coast. The large ones are in 
general in their best season from the middle of Oc- 
tober till the beginning of May. Many of the 
small ones, and some few of the larger sort; are 
good all the summer. If they be four inches and 
a half long, or upwards, from the tip of the head 
to the end of the back shell, they are called sizeable 
lobsters. If only four inches, they are esteemed 
half size ; and when sold, two of them are reckoned 
for one of size ; if they be under four inches, they 
are called pawks, and are not saleable to the carriers, 
though, in reality, they are in the summer months 
superior to the large ones in goodness. The pin- 
cers of one of the lobster’s large claws are furnished 
with knobs, and those of the other claws are always 
serrated. With the former it keeps firm hold of 
the stalks of submarine plants, and with the latter 
it cuts and minces its food very dextrously. The 
knobbed or numb claw, as the fishermen call it, is 
sometimes on the right and sometimes on the left, 
indifferently. It is more dangerous to be seized by 
them with the cutting claw than the other ; but in 
either case, the quickest way to get disengaged 
from the creature is to pluck off its claw. It seems 
