The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1892-12-14
CURIOUS THINGS ABOUT CRABS.

Grabs are not always hard-shelled,
and one boy only eleven years old, who
lives in East Rockaway, Long Island,
has not only learned great deal
about these curious fish this summer,
but he has kept himself in pocket mo-
ney, and put a considerable sum in
the bank as result of the business
he has built up in catching and selliug
crabs.
The knowledge he has gained is not
very scientific nor very complete, as
may be readily imagined; but it is
good, practical knowledge, and accu-
rate as far as it goes. Moreover, be-
ing practical knowledge, which he has
picked up by actually observing and
handling the crabs, it is particularly
interesting. Any boy who wants a
more thorough knowledge can easily
find it in any good work on natural
history.
He has learned that crabs shed their
shells two or three times in a season,
and that each time they do it they
pass through some very interesting
changes. What may be called the
natural or healthy condition of the
crab is his hard-shell state. That is,
he is hard-shell crab most of the time,
for the changes he goes through in
shedding are very rapid, and within
twelve hours of the time he leaves his
old shell he is at home in another one,
half as big again as the old, or even
more than that.
Master Eddie, the East Rockaway
boy, has learned how to tell when these
| changes are coming, though he finds
it difficult to tell anybody else how he
does it. The outward signs are plain
enough to the eve and to the touch
when they have been learned, but they
are not easily or well described in
words. When the crab begins to get
ready to leave his old house he is
called a "comer," probably because
the change is coming. If it is male
crab, he gets yellow underneath,
though his color does not change
greatly. If it is female, certain fine
| lines on her "apron" appear and grow
more distinct as the time of shedding
gets nearer.
After few hours the conner becomes
a shedder. The changes in his ap-
pearance are still palmer, and it may
be told by handling. His shell be-
comes brittle and easily to be broken
with the fingers. That piece of his
armor which is underneath and out
side of his legs-between the legs and
the point of his side-works loose
from the rest of the armor. 1t is q
smooth plate, and if it be pressed with
the finger it can be pushed in on the
soft body inside. Another sign is that
the shell on his smallest feet can be
! pinched off with the thumb and fore
finger.
Now the crab begins to grow, and
presently he is what is called @bust
top" 1t is not scientific word, but
it is very expressive. His body be
comes in short time too large for hi,
old shell to contain, and his shell
bursts, the top part being lifted VI
from behind, like the lid of a coffee
pot, giving him the opening through
which he can crawl out backward from
his now useless house. This he leave
and feebly crawling away to somt
place as nearly safe as he can find, ht
grows big at an amazing rate, and in
few hours more he is hard again.
During these few hours he is in ex
treme peril, and it is hard to feel an,
sympathy with him, because when h
is protected by his hard she'll he is
greedy, cruel fellow, who eats almos
anything, alive or dead, in the shap
of meat or fish, which he can catch il
his claws. After he has become
shedder, however, he loses the strengtl
of his claws, and when he is sof
crab he is delicacy that is eagerl
sought for and eaten, not only by me-
and boys, but by all sorts of fish, eel
and other crabs.
If the soft crab, however, happen
to be female, she is likely to be pre-
tected in a queer way, for some bi
hard crab will come up to her and tax
care Of her till she gets hard enough
take care of herself. He will fgh
tiercely for her at this time, and she
as safe as possible.-Hcrper'S You'a
| PeOD{e