Signal-Copiahan. (Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1886-09-02
SIlRlMPS AND PRAWNS.
A Naturclist's Talk About These
Deft Crustacea.

DelJ CruStOcea-
"I chanced at breakfast the other day 20
wish knew something OF the biography Of u
shrimp, the rather that | WI. under the I'm
prcss'on of having seen jumping shrimps on
a sandy shore express great satisfaction In
their life
MY shelves are loaded with hooks ON nat.
ural history, but could nnd nothing sbor,
shrimps except that they swim IN the water.
or lie upon the sand in shoals ,nd arc taken
In multtudcs for the table - R,isLbL
so says Mr.. RuSkin ut the conclusion
of letter upon the choice of books.
And as one so deeply verscd in litcra-
turo lamen,s his ignorance Of shrimp
life. il i probable that some of our
readers may share his ignorance. Now,
the word shrimp" as Mr.. Pickwick
said of the word politics. comprises
III itself a difficult study of no incon-
siderable magnitude. People who DO
not happen to be BIOLOGISTS have n
vague idea that all shrimpS are alike,
and, rs Mr.. RuSkn has done. think
that shrimps. which never leave the
water, arc identical with the sand
hoppers that fringe the edge Of the
water but do not enter il.
The jumping of the sand.hopperS
does not express great satisfaction
with their life, but i simply convent
cnt mode OF locOmotion, like the jump
ing Of the kangaroo or Zee. 1t is al
ways employed when they agc forcibly
elected from their domicilcs beneath
the sand. or are trying to escape from the
many enemies which feed upon them.
Although they belong 20 the same
class rs the Shrimps; namely, the crus-
tacca; there is scarcely Scotch cousin
ship between them, and shey have no
more right to the name of shrimp, than
the duck-bill has TO the name of eat
What then is shrimp? A. have
already mentioned. the shrimp belongs
10 the great class Of cruStacca, so
called because the outer skin is formed
into a sort of crust by the deposition of
lime within its tissues. In those places
where the tail or limbs need to be- bent
no lime is deposited. 80 that the joints
are almost Identical with those of the
old fitting armor. The amount of
lime differs greatly according to the
various groups, the shells OF many
crabs being of stony hardness, while
those of the shrimps and prawns are
~ NiNa1ks .Aff tn.laal In tho
prawnS the lime deposit is so slight
that when the creature is dried. the
contraction of the skin SqueezeS the
particles Of lime out of the tissues and
leaves il in the form of white powder
upon the exterior OF the body. have
Just written the word shrimp" upon
slate, using dried prawn by way Of
pencil.
This lime deposit can be beautifully
shown by placing II piece of prawn-
she'll under the microscope, and illum-
mating il with polariscd light The
peculiar dark cross upon the brilliant
ly cOloured disc proves that the par
ticles are those Of carbonate of lime.
The shell of the oyster exhibits SINH
lar appearance. This lime-depoSit cX-
ercises so great an intluenco upon the
whole life of a crustacesn that shall
presently have occasion TO revert to it.
Casting aside the strictly scientific
side OF the question, we will now
"a L.. So l,tal,
orally considered, and eaten. as
shrimps. They are usually proclaimed
by the seaside barrow men as "brown
shrimps" and "rcd shrimps," the
latter being sometimes drawled out in
prolonged wall into ''pra-a-a-rns."
The distinction is perfectly correct,
the brown being true shrimps,
and the rcd true prawns.
There is no difficulty in distinguishing
between them. the shrimps having the
top Of the head Hat. while the head of
prawn is armed with long curved
projection. very deeply notched. so
that the one can BE- distinguished from
the other by the touch alone without
the assistance OF the eye. As far. how
ever. as the purpose Of this sketch is
concerned, we may treat them a.
identical.
When / deliver a lecture on this SUBJ
lect l always send lad round the
audience with basket Of shrimps or
prawns. asking each hearer TO take
one. not to be eaten, but 70 be used as
an ''object lesson" II my readers can
possess themselves OF shrimp or
prawn-I prefer the former-and will
follow by its aid the next few pageS
tAsy viii see sha, the word shrimp"