The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-04-23
THE LOBSTER AND CRAB
The Former Crustacean Dis
appearing from View.
A Grab with Legs Eleven Feet Long anc
Hardly any Body to Support

The small logs seen anchored in the
neighborhood of He'll Gate at certain
seasons of the year are buoys for ''lob
ster pots" so Prof. Bickmore told the
class of public school teachers in lee
ture. delivered at the American Muse
UNI of Natural History in New York
The 'lobster potts." he said, are made
OF Stats in a semi-cylinderical shape
with fat bottom, in which is an ORR
flee large enough to admit lobster.
The animal having been tempted in,
has not the requisite amount of sense,
as general rule, to find its way out
The appendages of the lobster werere-
marked upon as peculiarly adapted to
its natural wants. The two claws or
pincers differ the one from the other,
fact which always gives them an I'M
calmly appearance. One of the claws
has series of grinders and is used as
a mill to crush she'll fish and other
hard substances, while that on the OPP
posite sideis provided with asharp edge,
which is used in cutting up fish and
similar substances. The lobster pro-
pels itself by means Of thin plates at
tached to the body which it uses as
oars. Its eggs are attached to the I'M
der side of the body and carried about,
and to protect them from rocky bot.
toms the tail of the animal is doubled
up under it. completely covering them.
There were said to be Holsters in the
Mediterranean which had no claws.
The rate at which the animal in this
country is disappearing was deprecated
by the speaker "In my boyhood,"
said he, "we used to gather any guam.
tity of them between high and low
water mark on the coast of Maine, and
they were much larger than those we
see now, too. At the present time
they were almost entirely taken from
deep water, and at represent rate OF
decrease will shortly become curiosi-
ties to be found only in the museums.
The crab is higher order of animal
than the lobster, the Professor said,
and he described number of different
classes of the species. The fiddler
crab was so called from the peculiar
shape and motion of its claw. 1t has
set of grinding teeth in the anterior
portion of its stomach, and a grinding
movement is kept up alIaost continu-
ously. The eye of the crab was very
peculiar. consisting Of series of tubes
bound together, each tube represent
ing single eye lie sees singly by
combining the images in his mind af-
ter the manner of mosaic. The long
feelers of the crab are designed for
reaching into the crevices of the rocks
after its prey. The giant of all crabs
is found in the bay Of Jeddo. Its legs
are II feet long and it scarcely has
body enough to hold them together.
The hermit crab is queer sort of an
imal, which takes up its habitation in
shells vacated by other animals. The
Professor said that if hermit crab
was placed in tub Of water with sew
eral shells it would examine them all,
and then select that best adapted ia
its comfort. II two or three crabs
were put among the same shells they
would often fight for the best shell.
The hermit often Travelled about in
conjunction with polyp as means
Of protection from the octopus. The
polyp did the fighting, while the her.
NIT carried him about and collected
food for both.
A crab and a cocoanut were held ur
by the Professor before his audience
The crab, he said, was palm crab and
lived in cocoanut groves. 1t tears of
the husk with it's claws, hammers
through the shell, and then lifts out
the meat in chunks with its pincers.
The palm crab has special breath
ing apparatus which enables it tc
live out of water. The most pecu.
liar Of all the crabs was certain
species which lives in the mountains
The animals keep well out Of the
way during tho daytime, but they
are fond of making moonlight excur.
'ions in little groups to wet their
gills in water. They not infrequent.
~ stop at vegetable gardens in their
marches, and the damage they dc
make the farmers their enemies.
The barnacle was said to be Of the
same species as the lobster and tht