The Van Buren press., 1897-10-16
A LoBSTER'S TOILET.
How He Gets Out of His She'll and
Takes on n New One.

Takes on New one,
1t has not happened to every one
to see a lobster east his shell. Last
summer | had an opportunity of watch.
ing the process. was staying for sev.
eral weeks in a secluded little village
on the south coast and one day, when
the only fisherman in the place re.
turned after taking up his pots" he
flung upon the beach specimen too
small for sale or home consumption.
The prize was taken possession of by
a boy. who presented it to my impro-
vised 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 came
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 she'll became so small for
him that he could no longer avoid dis
earding his eYer-tightening armor. One
morning, therefore, l found my lobster
apparently in his last agonies. He lay
on his back and rubbed his legs con.
vulsively together as if in intense pain;
and then he wriggled about, or jerked
himself violently upward by means OF
his tail. | suppose that these actions
had for their object the loosening OF
the claws and limbs in their sheaths
The rapid movements somewhat dis.
turbed the sand and c'ouded the water;
but, as the patient lay close to the glass,
I never entirely lost sight of him
Nevertheless, | do not quite know how
it 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 divested
himself of his head-eovering that un.
derstood what my guest was about
y great deal more wriggling and strug.
Cling followed. the lobster gradually
squeezing himself. as il were, out of the
shoulders of his suit of armor.
The operation looked as if it were
extremely painful and eNhaustng; 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
ii was motionless, il might have been
mistaken for live and healthy erusta.
cean in full dress. The orifice through
which the ancient tenant had evieted
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
at all like his old self. His colors were
so bright as to suggest that he had
been parboiled, and he had the tender
appearance of human flesh from which
the skin had just been removed. took
out the shell and found that my guest
had got rid not only of the major part
of his eyes, but also of the lining ofihis
stomach. including his internal teeth,
and of some of the bones of his thorax;
vet he seemed to be little the worse
for his thorough turnout. On my re-
turn from luncheon ! touched him and
found that, although quite soft, he was
covered with an incipient shell of the
approximate solidity of oiled tissue pa
per.
/ have omitted TO mention one curious
circumstance connected with this par
ticular animals toilet. When the lob
ster was given to me he was without
his left big claw, which had, suppose,
been accidentally wrenehed off by his
original captor. The stump very quick
ly healed up, a hard, ealcareous seal
encrusting the end of the joint To
nv astonishment, when the lobster
worked himself out of his old shell,
he appeared with a rudimentary left
claw. which had evidently formed be-
hind the shield. This claw grew even
more rapidly than the rest of the body.
Eiraeide