265. The LOBSTER (Cancer gammarus, Fig. 74) is a well known crustaceous animal, distinguished by its long and jointed tail, its shell being smooth, and having betwixt the eyes a kind of beak toothed on each side, and with a double tooth at its base.
These animals are of bluish black colour when alive, but, in boiling, this changes to a dingy red. They sometimes grow to an immense size.
Lobsters are found among marine rocks in nearly all parts of Europe.
They are caught much in the same manner as crabs ([263]). The London markets are supplied with great numbers of lobsters from the Orkney Islands and the eastern parts of Scotland, and even from the coast of Norway. It is said that in London lobsters are sometimes boiled every day for a week or longer, to keep them sweet externally; but, notwithstanding this precaution, their inner parts become putrid. An immoderate use both of lobsters and crabs is sometimes attended with irruptions in the face, or a species of nettle rash over the whole body; and, when eaten in a state approaching to putrescence, they are sometimes productive of still more disagreeable effects.
When selected for the table, lobsters ought to be heavy in proportion to their size, and to have a hard, and firm crust. During winter the male lobsters are generally preferred for the table. These are distinguished by the narrowness of their tail, and by the first two fins beneath being large and hard. The females, on the contrary, are broader in the tail, and have these fins small and soft. The roe or eggs are found under the tail of the females for some time after they have been protruded from the body, and in this state the females are generally preferred to the males. When fresh, the tails of lobsters are stiff, and pull open with a spring, but when they are stale the joints of the tail become flaccid.
266. The SEA CRAW-FISH, or SPINY LOBSTER (Cancer homarus), is a crustaceous animal, distinguishable from the common lobster, by its shell being covered with spines, mud by each of the legs ending in a hairy claw.
This species is of large size, and is found in most of the European seas.
Sea craw-fish are very common in the London markets, where they are sold at a price inferior to that of the common lobsters. Their flesh is hard, and has a peculiar sweetness, which by many persons is much disliked. At Marseilles, and on the coast of the Mediterranean, however, they are in considerable request on account of their eggs, which are esteemed a great delicacy. These begin to appear towards the end of May, and are cast about two months afterwards.
267. The COMMON, or FRESH-WATER CRAW-FISH (Cancer astacus), is a small crustaceous animal, in shape somewhat resembling a lobster, and distinguished by having its large claws beset with numerous tubercles, and the beak between its eyes being toothed on each side, and having a single tooth at the base.
It inhabits holes in the clayey or stony banks of many of the rivers of England, and is seldom known to exceed the length of three or four inches.