Possibly the recovery from the epidemic may be rapid, and the
small boys of Medley and Mill Street may earn their sixpence a dozen as
delightfully as they used to. Young crayfish, when hatched from the egg,
are almost exactly like their parents. The female nurses and protects
them, carrying them attached to its underside in clinging crowds. They
grow very fast, and this makes it necessary for the youthful crayfish to
"moult" or shed their shells eight times in their first twelvemonth of
life, as the shell is rigid and does not grow with the body. The constant
secretion of the lime necessary to make these shells is so exhausting to
the youthful crayfish that only a small number ever grow up. In America,
where a large freshwater crayfish nearly a foot long is found, its
burrowing habits are a serious nuisance, especially in the dykes of the
Mississippi. In those streams from which these interesting little
creatures have entirely disappeared it might be worth while to introduce
the large Continental crayfish. As it is bred artificially, there would be
no difficulty in obtaining a supply, and it would be a useful substitute
for the small native kind.
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