The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-09-14
cpAas ARMs AND LEGS.
r.,,- Power of Voluntary Amputa-
100. .;on Utilized by an Ingenious Old
Erom &c Washington So.

20. ION UTILIZED by an Ingenious Old
Gentlemen
From the Washington Star.
,.funnv looking old gentleman, with
-, cotton umbrella under his arm and
11-,les 20 match, stopped at a Washing
- fish stand yesterday afternoon and
..,,+ively examined lot of healthy crabs,
-;io,tly lust cut Of the water, which were
...rsbling about in shallow box with
-, cracklisg noise peculiar to this inter
N, crus,acean under such circumstances.
cling for particular notice the biggest
- them all. the aged person deliberately
-, 10 tickle it with mis- forefinger nail
- the second Joint of the left large claw,
..yi,r care at the same time to avoid
toi,g seized bv the rather formidable nip
This he continued for a few seconds,
nben the claw suddenly dropped off and
,ba animal scrambled away for a short
distance. cut of reach, while the old &c tile
man cooly picked up the abandoned member
and nut it in his pocket. Then he stepped
rouni TO the other side of the box and be-
can TO tickle the same crab just as before
IN the other claw; presently that fell off
Gkewise and was promptly pocketed. 1t
looked as though the old gentleman was
going to repeat the operation on others OF
Tha crnbs. but he was cut short at this
noint by the unexpected appearance of the
fish man from behind the door.
"W hat yer doingF' the latter inquired.
without exhibiting the slightest discom-
1,osure or ernbar assment the aged stranger
waved a polite greeting to the proprietor
with his umbrella and put himself IN the
attitude of learned discourse, evidently
rendered i, stinctive by scholastic habit.
"My worthy friend" he said, Il have
inst been pei forming an experiment of tae
utm, st interest, illustrative of a curious
physical function which, so far as science is
aware. is possessed by the crab alone among
animals If your own leg is injured SO
badly as to render amputation necessary the
operation must be performed with a saw
and knlves. Likewise with any other liv-
ing creature, surgery must be reso ted to
for getting rid of the limb. The crab is the
solitary exception to this rule. If it con-
cludes that, for any reason, leg or arm is
10 more desirable. it simply cuts off the
menber by single effort of its own will
aad q es away without it. Catch crab
by the claw, and, as quickly as it perceIves
that it is not likely to escape otherwise, it
will exert tue simple act Of volition neces-
sary and, dropping the imprisoned limb, go
OFT rejoicing"
"Hu, ~ said the fisherman.
Eyes, my good man." went on the old
gentleman. "And furthermore, this act Of
voluntary anputatioa may BE- caused by
simply scratching or tickling the CLAW.
The crab is doubtless annoyed by it and,
being creature naturally subject to fits OF
i'll temper the limb is angrily dropped. The
amputation, which is truly such and not
mere dlsarticulauon of the joint. may
also be induced by the application of an
electric current That the crabs power to
accomplish this curious feat depends upon
the central nervous system is proved by the
fact tat when the crustacean is rendered
luSensible by an aneSthet C or the nervous sys
tenn injured, tie act Of amputation cannot
lie performed. l am very fond of crabs
legs myself. Tney are delicious eating"
Indeed" replied the fish man. And so
you shad-bellied old beat, you come around
t. my stand and tickle my crabs for sup
per! Two or three of my customers have
complained lately thai the crabs they bought
OF NE had lost their big ciaws. | suppose
you have been doing this thing right
along"
pray be calm" interrupted the old gen.
tleman, with a deprecatory wave of the
blue-cotton umbrella. "Your speaking in
TINS lmPollte manner makes me
fear that you have no re-
gard for science nor interest in the
wonders of HISTOLOGY. Il is worth remem-
beilng, however, that the crab has another
great advan age over other animals-it can
renew the legs and arms it losses by grow
ing others, although the fresh ones never
get to be a large as the originals"
We'll, I'd have you know, my blooming
Old fossil that don't keep crabs on my
stand long enough for them to grow new
arms and legs in place of the ones you
steel, and if 1 ever catch you hanging about
here again I'll hand you over to the
police
And the old gentleman, without ventur-
ing a response. shuffled off, muttering to
himself the while and fumbling with the
two crab legs he had secured in his pocket.