The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-05-01
MR.. LOBsTER's NEW SUIT.
How He Discards the One He Ha'
Outerown For Another.

1t has not happened to every one to see
a lobster cast his shell. Last summer l
had an opportunity of watching the pro-
cess. I was staying for several weeks IN
a secluded little village on the south
coast. and one day, when the only fisher
man in the place returned after taking up
his "pots,'' he flung upon the beach a
specimen too small for sale or home con-
sumption. The prize was taken possession
Of by a boy, who presented it to my i'm
p~rovised aquarium, for which all the 1T
tie boys of the village were enthusiastic
collectors. I kept the water well aerated,
and devoted a great deal OF time ana al
tention to my various live stock; ana al
last my reward came. At the time of-hls
capture my lobster had already begun TO
thing about getting a new suit; ana as
the days went by, the old shell became 50
small for him that he could no longer
avoid discarding his e~ver-tightening ar
NOR.
One morning, therefore, I found my
lobster aD%parently in his last agontes He
law on his back and rubbed his legs con-
vrlsively together as if in intense pain;
and then he wriggled about, or JerKed
himself violently upward by means OF ms
tail. I suppose that these actions haa
for their object the loosening OF the
claws and limbs in their sheaths. Inc
rapid movements somewhat distruped the
SAND and clouded the water; but as the
patient lay close to the glass | never en-
tirely lost sight of him. Nevertheless l
do not quite know how 1t all occurred.
The throes continued for IN hour or more,
and efforts were apparently made 10
burst the shell open from within; but 1t
was not until I saw that the lobster had
actually Invested himself of his head COW
ering that I understood what my guest
was about. A great deal more Wriggling
and struggling followed, the lobster grad
ually squeezing himself, as it were, out
The operation looked as If 1T were ex-
of the shoulders of his suit of ormor
tremely painful and exhausting; but at
last I had the satisfaction of seeing my
lobster and his discarded shell lying side
nv side. The latter looked much the
smaller of the two; and, ave that it was
motionless, it might have been mistaken
for a live and healthy crustacean III rull
dress. The orifce through which the an
Gent tenant had evicted himself was very
small. and the headpiece had not been
completely thrown off. but was left hang
ing, 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 ugges
that he had been parboiled, and he had
the tender appearance of human flesh
from which the skin has just been re-
moved.
/ took out the shelf. and found that my
guest a 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;
vet 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 SOL
idity of allied tissue paper. He did not like
being touched. During the three following
DAYS the shrimps worried him a good deal
but he grew with marvellous rapidly I'M
til he was fully half as big again as he
had been. and when I once more touched
him The shell on his big claws was surii-
GENTLY hard to enable him to give me q
nip.
/ have omitted to mention one curious
circumstance connected with this partic-
Mar animals toilet. When the lobster was
given tome he was without his left big
claw. which had, I suppose, been accident
ally wrenched off by his original captor.
The stump was quickly healed ~, a hard.
calcareous seal encrusting the end Of the
ioint. To my aston shment, when the lob
ster worked himself out of his old shell,
he appeared with a rudimentary LETT
claw. which had evidently formedxbehind
the shield. This claw grew even more
RAPIDLY than the rest of the body; and, BY
the time the new shell was hard. the
new claw. though still disproportionate,
was 81 very serviceable dimensions.