Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Crab-fish

CRAB-FISH, the Common, or Cancer-major, L. is a species of shell-fish, that inhabits our shores, and lurks or burrows under the sand: it is sold almost exclusively to the poorer class of people. As crabs, however, generally are in a state nearly approaching to putrefaction, before they arrive at the markets of inland towns, the eating of them is attended with considerable danger.

The claws of crabs form an article of the apothecaries shop. The tips or ends of them only are used; after being broken down ard well washed in boiling water, they are levigated, and yield a whitish powder, which is employed as an absorbent, especially where acidity abounds in the stomach and bowels. Formerly, this preparation was much employed in diarrhœas, and especially in the Heart-burn, to which we refer.