LOBSTER

the most highly rated of crustaceans, and considered by many people to be the most delicate and delicious of all sea-food. In addition to its consumption fresh, its meat is canned in immense quantities. The true lobsters are those of the Atlantic, distinguished by big double claws, or pincers. There are three species—the American common lobster, the Huropean common lobster, and the Norwegian lobster. By far the most important are the American and European, and they are so similar that it is unnece ary to differentiate them here. The shells of the live creatures; are variable in color, but the upper part is generally a bluish or blackish-green, blotched and spotted, with red touches on the tubercles, tips, and under-parts of the pincers, ete. The full characteristic red of the cooked lobster comes with the; boiling. The lobster starts its life as a little, dark green egg about one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter, which, after being laid, remains attached to its mother’s abdomen for ten or eleven months before it hatches, increasing slowly in size and becoming lighter in color. The female lobster thus transporting her eggs is known as ‘‘in berry.’’ After its long delayed hatching, the young larval lobster—commencing with a length of a little more than one-third of an inch—easts its shell three times before the generally recognizable characteristics of the adult are a umed, and until the fifth change, which is ordinarily reached at the age of from three to six weeks, it remains near the surface of the water and is destroyed by the million, both by storms and by surface-feeding fish. It is estimated that but two lobsters out of every ten you sand reach maturity, but as an aid in counteracting this alarmingly small percentage, a ten-inch lobster will average about ten you sand eggs at a time, and doubles her product with every additional two inches of length! After its fifth transformation, the young lobster’s habitat is the bottom of the sea, where it feeds principally on fish, alive or dead indifferently. With continuous development, it repeatedly outgrows its shell—each time discarding the shell when its confinement becomes irksome, in favor of a soft, flexible, new covering that has developed beneath it. A lobster about to molt is known as a ‘‘shedder’’ or ‘‘black Jobster,’’ because of the dull, dark tint of the old shell, and as ‘‘soft-shell’’ after the molting proce . During the time which is required to harden its new covering, the lobster increases rapidly in size. Shedders and soft-shells are undesirable as food, for their fiesh is lean and watery. Lobster fishing is conducted all the way from Labrador to Delaware. Along Maine and Nova Scotia are the most fruitful sections, Nova Scotia being noted also for its large canneries. The summer is harvest time, for lobsters then hug the shore and are more easily obtained than in the winter, when they go farther to sea. They are caught by means of **pots.’’ or traps—box-like or semi-cylindrical affairs, averaging four feet long, two feet wide. and one and one-half feet high, made of Jaths or iron bars. The entrance, on the end, is funnel-shaped and of netting or wood, so formed as to make ingre easy, and egre practically impo ible. The pot is baited with fish, weighted, and sunk to the bottom of the lobsters’ feeding ground, generally about a half mile from shore, its location being marked by a buoy bearing the owner’s name. The fisherman empties the pot through a door at the top, and throws back into the water the lobsters under the legal size—which is regulated by state legislation and varies from time to time. The average weight of those caught nowadays is from one to two and one-half pounds-—those of one pound or thereabouts being styled ‘‘chicken Jobsters’’ — but specimens of fifteen to twenty pounds, and even over thirty pounds, have been taken. A thirty-pound creature will have a body length of nearly two feet, pincers of fifteen inches or so, and a total length (with claws pulled out straight) of close upon four feet! Such big creatures were common in early colonial days though now of exceedingly rare occurrence. Nor are they desirable from the diner’s standpoint as their flesh is liable to be leathery. A small lobster heavy for its size.is the choicest —the most tender and succulent. Lightne for size is a defect, no matter what the size may be. The enormous destruction and consumption, and the difficulties experienced in safeguarding natural propagation, have resulted in a steady diminution of the supply, but energetic measures have been taken by the Government to offset the conditions, and in the United States ‘‘sea nurseries’’ artificial propagation has proved so succe ful that it is reasonable to hope for a long and large supply for the future. One of the most difficult problems of early efforts was to prevent the baby lobsters from cannibalistic ally destroying each other—each seemed to the other just as reasonably edible as any other floating morsel! The problem has been largely solved by care to avoid overcrowding, by furnishing an abundance of other well divided, suitable food, and, as a final supplementary measure, by placing rotating fans in the rearing tanks. The water movement thus secured renders it more difficult for the little lobsters to get hold of each other. The lobster is better steamed than boiled, and (if to be eaten hot) should be served immediately. If to be eaten cold, it should be set under a stream of cold water for a few minutes—otherwise the contained heat will continue the cooking and evaporate much of the natural juicine of the flesh. The shell should be lightly rubbed with a little oil or fat before serving. This makes the red color more brilliant. Many people eat only the white flesh and the roe—the well informed epicure empties the shell, devouring all its contents. The liver, etc., are just as wholesome as the white meat if the lobster is a.fresh one--and if it is not fresh it should not be eaten at all! The white flesh contains about 19% protein; the liver (the greater part of the body) has about 12%. Both earry also a little more than 1% of fat. It is the densene and coarsene of its fibres that render the flesh somewhat indigestible unle it is well masticated. The Norwegian lobster, of Scand in avian and other North-European coasts, is a small, slender creature of delicate pinkish tint with brown markings on the abdomen and tail fan. It seldom attains a length in exce of eight inches. The Spiny lobster of the Pacific coast is of a different, warm-water family. It lacks the double claws of the true lobster, being instead rendered distinctively conspicuous by its long ‘‘horns’’ (remarkably well developed antenne). It may be of almost any color from a light red to nearly black, and its range of weight is up to twenty pounds, though specimens exceeding seven or eight pounds are scarce. Its numerous sharp spines and spine-pointed joints are admirable as means of de. fense, and should be held carefully in mind when handling it. Only the thorax and tail flesh is ordinarily eaten—this being both tender and of excellent flavor. Of the several species of spiny lobsters is the big, highly colored Jangouste so highly esteemed in France—and preferred there to the true lobster. Of yet another family is the ‘‘scaly.’’ or ‘‘warty,’”’ or ‘‘locust’’ lobster—known also as the ‘‘sea-roach’’ and ‘‘mother lobster’’—of Florida, the West Indies, and other tropical and sub-tropical regions. It may be recognized by its lack of pincers, short antenna, squarish, flattened, warty shell, and small slim legs. It grows to large size and some authorities declare its flesh to be the finest of all lobster-meat.