Collier's New Encyclopedia

A complete general encyclopedia of 1921 — the world as it was understood just after the Great War, from Aachen to Zwingli, across twelve volumes and six thousand pages.

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Crab

a popular name for all the 10footed, short-tailed crustaceans constitutgers"). The liver is the soft, rich yellow substance, usually called the fat of the crab. They "moult" or throw off their calcareous covering periodically.

The first pair of limbs are not used for locomotion, but are furnished with strong claws or pincers. Their eyes are compound, with hexagonal facets, and are pedunculated, elongated, and movable.

Like most individuals of the class, they easily lose their claws, which are as readily renewed. The racer-crabs of the West Indies suck the juice of the sugarcane. Most inhabit the sea, others fresh water, some the land, only going to the sea to spawn. The common large edible crab (Cancer pagurus) is much sought after.

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