FoodNetArchive

The Worcester domestic science school's one year course laboratory cook book

1914

Page 35

Presented as published in 1914. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
The ovaries are sometimes yellowT and sometimes dark. There is a tube extending from them to the third leg back, through which the eggs pass and are deposited on the leg. The lobster has a digestive system, a nervous and an excretory system. The stomach of Crustacea is in the head. The lobster's stomach contains three little knob-like teeth, of a calcareous composition, used to grind the food. The jawxs are on the lower side of the head near thorax. The food passes through the mouth upward to the stomach. The mouth is a modified leg. The heart lies below stomach in the 62 THE WORCESTER DOMESTIC SCIENCE SCHOOL. thorax. It is an elongated organ with main blood vessel extending posteriorly and one anteriorly with several branches toward head, and one from each side of heart. The heart has three pairs of openings. In expanding it draws blood in, and in contracting sends blood into arteries. No veins enter the heart. One artery extends from heart to feed the eyes. Two tubes from heart feed the stomach; 2 more to month and antennae. The dorsal abdominal artery goes toward back, has two little branches to each segment. Branch running down to central part and forward, called ventral artery. The lobster has colorless blood. The white, soft substance seen in cooked lobster is coagulated blood. The sinuses are tissue like cavities for holding blood. They extend all through the body. The blood vessel extending down the back has a branch to each section in the ab- domen. Each of the gills has a blood vessel which extends up and joins large sinus near the heart; this makes circulation through the heart and supplies oxygen. Lying under the main dorsal artery is the intestine, extending from stomach whole length of body. It is colorless. The gills, or breathing apparatus are the hairy-like bodies on either side of the thorax. They take in water on anterior part towards head by means of "spoon-paddle" like apparatus, which fans the water back and forth through the gills. The lobster will live for some time out of water if the gills be wet occasionally. They suffocate if not allowed to move paddle to get air, or starve if allowed a long time in which to die. There is a greenish gland located below the eyes in anterior por- tion of head which carries waste product. The ovaries are long, slender, dark green bodies, extending from the head down the back into the abdomen, occupying a large space in the body. They are filled with eggs. The ovaduct, one on each side, extend into a leg on each side, from which the eggs are deposited on to the swimmeretts. The swimmeretts show a partial development from the leg. The nervous system consists of the ganglia located on the ventral side instead of the back. It has no cerebro-spinal system — the shell act- ing as the spinal column. It has a large ganglion on or near upper part of thorax, and with branches continues to the top of the head, where it has a small cluster of ganglia. There are nodules and branches of nerves extending from the main line to each segment of the abdomen. The principal nerve cord extends whole length of body to brain located in top of head. The dorsal muscles on back, whose function is to straighten abdo- men. When the lobster moves rapidly it swims backward by contrac- LABORATORY COOK BOOK. 63