1884.] 
AMERIOAE AGEIOULTURIST. 
303 
Many a Slip twi^’t the Claw and the Lip. 
In a feathery grove of waving seed-weed, at the 
bottom of the deep blue sea, a Smooth and a Spiny 
lobster, met one day, with angry looks and brist¬ 
ling claws. A feud had long existed between the 
two families to which these lobsters respectively 
belonged, but to-day a fresh quarrel had arisen, 
and it occurred in this wise. 
During a morning stroll for the good of his 
health, the Spiny lobster had suddenly come upon 
a sheltered nook, in which lay a large fish which 
had died a natural death, and for some reason had 
like you, who are not much better off in j'our 
family relations than a poor miserable crab?” 
“Just as you please,” retorted the Yankee, en¬ 
raged by this taunt, “ but you will have to fight 
for your dinner if you want it,” and he waved his 
mammoth claws menacingly, with a scornful glance 
from them to the small delicate extremities of his 
opponent, standing in rage before him. 
Spiny-back drew back a pace, “ I discovered it 
first,” he faltered, “and by right it is mine. If 
we took the matter before a judge, I feel very 
confident he would decide against you.” 
“ But I have it,” and the two lobsters glared at 
Can You Talk with the Pencil ? 
If I had asked, can you draw ? you would not 
perhaps have been so much interested. Yet draw¬ 
ing is in a great measure talking with the pencil. 
If one asks the way to a neighbor’s, or to the next 
village, you can reply by using paper and pencil in 
a manner that win be more useful than mere words. 
You will start with the point where you are; direct 
him to take the next right-hand road, to take the 
next left-hand turn, after passing a large elm tree, 
and after crossing the bridge to keep straight on. 
All these points you can make upon the paper, and 
A DISPUTE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 
escaped the notice of the monsters of the deep. 
Delighted at the discovery of this unexpected 
treasure, Mr. Spiny-back hastened home to summon 
his family of children—comical little fellows, some 
six inches long—to a feast, and picnic in the sea¬ 
weed grove. What was his wrath and disgust, 
when, upon his return, he found an American or 
Smooth lobster in quiet possession of the prize, 
and evidently about to bear it away to his favorite 
crevice in the rocks, and there enjoy it with his 
own particular friends. 
“ See here, sir,” shouted Spiny, with great pom¬ 
posity, his long feelers trembling with excitement, 
“that is my property, and I was coming with my 
family to feast upon it in the shade of yonder 
algaj. Please then to immediately drop that fish, 
and retire at once from our company.” 
“So ho!” Cried Mr. Smooth-back, evidently 
feeling “that possession was nine points of the 
law,” “there are two sides to that question. I just 
found the fish myself, and certainly shall not give 
up the prize at your unceremonious command.” 
“Do yon know who I am sir?” growled the 
Spiny lobster, his pop-eyes standing out farther 
than ever. “ I belong to the great Palinurus fam¬ 
ily of Europe, many of whom are giants, and weigh 
from fifteen to twenty pounds each. We too, 
were highly prized by the ancient Komans, and 
shall I yield to a common Smooth-shelled lobster 
Engi-aved for the American Agriculturist. 
each other so ferociously, that all the little Spiny’s 
ran off and hid in a perfect panic of terror. 
“ Why don’t you cut it in two, and each take 
half,” suggested a Solomon-like oyster, who had 
been a silent listener. But the crustaceans were 
too angry to heed, and crying, “ all or none 1” one 
seized the fish by the head, and the other by the 
tail, and tugged and fought until the water foamed 
and boiled around them. The European sacrificed 
half of his antennae, and the American lost one of 
his large claws, which, imposing as they appear, 
can be knocked off with a very gentle blow, though 
fortunately for Mr. Smooth-back new ones will 
grow out again in time. Hot and furious the 
battle raged, and they might have ended like the 
Kilkenny cats, if a sudden clap of thunder had not 
caused each to spring at least a foot from the 
ground, for lobsters are all peculiarly sensitive to 
these thunder and lightning shocks, and as peal 
after peal continued to shake the earth and sea, 
forgetful of enemy, dinner, and all, except their 
unreasoning terror and desire to escape, the Smooth 
and the Spiny lobster each scrambled oflf to his 
hole, while a big fish that had laiti quietly awaiting 
its chance, swallowed the bone of contention, 
greatly to the amusement of the wise oyster, who 
chuckled in his shell, and whispered to his wife—a 
fair, white pearl, “ Ah ! there’s many a slip twix’t 
t'.ie claw and the lip.’’ 
the inquirer, if he forgets your directions, can look 
at the sketch and be sure he is right. So, if you 
are about to build a rabbit huteh, or a bird house, 
make a sketch of it, that is, say upon paper just 
what kind of an affair you will build. If it does not 
quite suit you in some parts, rub out and draw 
anew, for it is much easier to make alterations in 
your house on paper then it is in the thing itself. 
Then having fixed upon the size for the house, 
mark down the figures, and you will be pleased to 
find how much easier it is to build, if you have 
the sketch at hand to tell you how. “ But 
I can’t draw”—Did you ever try? The first 
lesson you need is, to draw a straight line. Try to 
draw a horizontal line about two inches long, with¬ 
out the use of a straight-edge or ruler. If not 
straight at first, try again, and keep trying until 
you can make one that is fairly straight. Then 
make another line about a quarter of an inch from 
the first, and then others, all an equal distance 
apart. Next try perpendicular lines in the same 
manner. A few lessons in drawing lines, horizon¬ 
tal and upright, making a number of both at differ¬ 
ent distances apart, but all of each set at equal dis¬ 
tances, will be very useful in educating the eye and 
the hand. You can also try drawing long lines, 
others one-half as long, and so bn, first making the 
length by your eye, and then applying a measure. 
These will be capital exercises for odd times. T. 
