New-York tribune., 1897-08-29

on the south coast, and one day. when the only
fisherman in the place returned after taxing up
his pots he flung upon the beach d spec'msn m
too small for sale or home consumption Inc
prize was taken possession of by boy, VINO pre-
sented it to my improvsed aquarium. for whch
all the little boys of the village were enthusl-
astic collectors I kept the water well aerateu,
and devoted 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 nau
already begun TO think about gettns Il ne" sur,
and as The days went by, the old sheli became
so small for him that he could no longer aVoIu
discarding his ever-tightening arnor' oio
morning. therefore, ! found my LOBSTER appdi
emily in his last agonies. he lay on MS pach
and rubbed his legs convusively together as II III
intense pain: and then he wriggled about OF
ierked himself violently upward by means "l
his tail | suppose that these actions had Tor
their object the loosenng of the claws and limbs
in their sheaths The rapid movements soh!e-
what disturbed the sand and clouded the water
but as the patient lay close 10 the glass, never
sntre,,, Iost sight of him. Nevertheless do
not quite know how it all occurred. Inc throe'
continued for hour or more. ana EFFORTS wfre
apparently made 10. burst the smell open rom
within: but ii WAS not until saw the lobster
had actually divcstcd himself of his headcoNcr-
ing that | understood what my guest was apout'
4 great deal more wrgglins and struggling loL-
lowed the lobster gradually squeezing hinscil,
as it were. out of the shoulders OF MS SUIT "a
armor. .., ,,.
The operation looked as II it were extremely
painfuI and exhausting but at last had IN
sotisfoction of seeing my lobster and his dis
ca rded shell lying side by side. The latter
looked much the smaller of the two; and save
that II WAS notionless. it might have beeh
mistaken for a live and healthy cruStacean III
ful dress The orfce through which the an
cient tenant had evicted himself was very small.
and the headDiece had not been completely
thrown Off but was left hanging as by hlngr
Rut now the naked lobster did not look AT All
like his old self His colors were 81 bright as To
suggest that ne had been parboiled, ana II"
had the tender appearance Of human fesh from
| ,vh ne
ont the shell and found that my guest ha1
got rid not only Of the major pari or MS e3
| hut also of the lining Of his stomach Inc udhs
his internal teeth. and OF some OF the bones "i
| his thorax: yet he seemed TO be little the worse
| for his thorough turnout. ON my return from
| luncheon | touc' ed him and found that, al
| though quite soft. he was covered with an IN.
cipient shell of the approximate soidlty OF olied
| tissue paper -
| have omitted to mention one curious circum-
| stance connected with this particular animal ;
| toilet When the lobster was given 10 me ne
! was without his left big claw, which had. /
| suppose been accidentally wrenched off by his
| original captor. The stump very quickly heaie1 u
| up a hard, cacareous seal encrustlng the emo
| of the joint To my astonshmont, Wnen the
| lobster worked himself out Of his old shell, ne
| appeared with a rudimentary left claw. when
| had evidently formed behind the shield. TINS
| claw grew even mere rapidly than the rest
/ Of the body.