The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1897-10-14
A TOILET.
How lie Gets out OF Ills shcii and
Takes on "a New one.

Takes on "a New one.
1t has not happened 10 every one
o see a lobster east his she'll. Last
summer | had an opportunity of watch
'ag the process. was staying for sew
sral weeks II a secluded little village
IN the south coast, aud one day, when
the only fisherman in the place re-
turned after taking up his 'pots," he
flung upon the beach a specimen too
small for sale or home consumption.
The prize was taken possession of by
a boy. who presented it to my impro-
gised aquarium, for which all the lit
tie boys of the village were enthusiastic
collectors. | kept the water well
aerated, and devoted a great deal of
time and attention TO my various live
stock; and at last my reward anne.
At the time of his capture my lobster
had already begun to think about get
ting a new suit; and, as the days went
by, the old shell became so small for
him that he could no longer avoid dis
5arding his ever-tightening armor. One
morning, therefore, ] found my lobster
apparently in his last agonies. He lay
On his back and rubbed his legs con
gulsively together as II in intense pain;
and then he wriggled about, or ierked
himself violently upward by means of
his tail. | suppose that these actions
the claws and limbs in their sheaths
The rapid movements somewhat dis
turbed the sand and clouded the water;
but, as the patient lay close to the glass,
| never entirely lost sight of him.
Nevertheless, | do not quite know how
II all occurred. The throes continued
for an hour or more, and efforts were
apparently made to burst the shell
open from within; but it was not until
[ saw the lobster had actually Invested
himself Of his head-covering that l un.
derstood what my guest was about,
A great deal more wriggling and strug-
Cling followed, the lobster gradually
squeezing himself, as it were, out of the
shoulders of his suit of armor.
The operation looked as il it were
extremely painful and exhausting; but
at last | had the satisfaction of seeing
my lobster and his discarded shell lying
side by side. The latter looked much
the smaller of the two, and, save that
it was m%otionless, it might have been
mistaken for a live and healthy crusta
Gear in full dress. The orifice through
which the ancient tenant had evicted
himself was very small, and the head.
piece had not been completely thrown
off, but was left hanging, as by a hinge
But now the naked lobster did not look
ut all like his old self. His colors were
SO bright as to suggest that he hac
been parboiled, and he had the tender
appearance of humsn flesh from which
the skin had just been removed. tool
out the shell and found that my guest
had got rid not only of the major par
of his eyes, but also of the lining oflhis
stomach, including his internal teeth
ind of some of the bones of his thorax
vet he seemed to be little the wors,
tor his thorough turnout. On my re
turn from luncheon l touched him ant
found that, although quite soft, he wa!
covered with an incipient shell of thu
approximate solidity of oiled tissue pa
per.
| have omitted TO mention n curious
circumstance connected with this par
ticular animals toilet. When the lob
.ter was given to me he was withou
ais left big claw, which had, l suppose
oeen accidentally wrenched off by hi
original captor. The stump very quick
y healed up. n hard, calcareous sea
.ncrusting the end of the joint. I,
my astonishment, when the lobste
worked himself out of his old shell
he appeared with a rudimentary lief
,law, which had evidently formed be
hind the shield. This claw grew eyei
more rapidly than the rest of the body
Preside.