The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-09-06
Why, didn't you know that he had had fever, and that his hair had all come out?'-Clevelan Leader.
A LOBSTER's TOILET.
How He Gets Out of His Old Shell and
 Takes on a New One

IlOW III NICio out Ol I1lS olu DllGll uild Takes on New One.
 It has not happened to every one to see a lobster cast his shell. Last sum mer l had an opportunity of watching the process. I was staying for several weeks in 9 secluded little village on the south coast. and one day, when the only fisherman in the place returned 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 boy, who presented it to my improvised aquarium, for which all the little boys of the village were enthusiastic collec- tors I kept the water well aerated and devoted great deal of time and atten- | tion to my various live stock; and at l last my reward came. At the time of his capture my lobster had already be- gun to think about getting new suit; | and, as the days went by, the old shell | became so small for him that he could no longer avoid discarding his ever- | tightening armor. One morning, there | fore, I found my lobster apparently in | his last agonies. He lay on his back and rubbed his legs convulSively to- gether as if in intense pain; and then he wriggled about, or jerlSed himself violently upward by means of his tail. l suppose that these actions had for their object the loosening of the claws and limbs in their sheaths. The rapid movements somewhat disturbed the sand and clouded the water; but, as the patient lay close to the glass I t,o, t,.nl, 1A, ,t..l.I k ertheless, do not quite know how it all occurred. The throes continued for an hour or more, and efforts were appar- ently made to burst to shell open from within; but it was not until I saw the | lobster had actually divested himself
 of his head-covering that I understood what my guest was about A great deal more wriggling and struggling fol- lowed, the lobster gradually squeezing himself, as it we're, out of the shoulders of his suit of armor.
 The operation looked as if it were
 extremely painful and exhausting; but
 at last l had the satisfaction of seeing my lobster and his discarded shell ly- ing side by side. The latter looked much the smaller of the two; and, save that 1t was motionless. it might have i been mistaken for a live and healthy crustacean in full dress. The orifice through which the ancient tenant had
 evicted himself was very small and i the headpiece 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 k. 1, t>ol t,,
 tender appearance of human flesh from which the skin has just been removed
 l 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
 of his stomach, including his internal teeth. and of some of the bones of his
 thorax; yet he seemed to be little the
 worse for his thorough turnout. On
 my return from luncheon I touched
 him and found that, although quite
 soft he was covered with an incipient shell of the approximate solidity of oil- ed tlssue-paper
 I 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, I suppose. 1 been accidentally wrenched off by his
 original captor. The stump very quick
 ly healed up, a hard, calcareous seal
 encrusting the end of the joint. To
 my astonishment, when the lobster
 worked himself out of his old shell, he
 appeared with a rudimentary left claw,
 which had evidently formed behind the
 shield. This claw grew even more rap
 idly than the rest of the body.-Fire-
 side.