Required: One good-sized crab.

Salt and pepper, oil, and vinegar to taste. One tablespoonful of fresh white crumbs. Two teaspoonfuls of chopped parsley. One ounce of butter.

Choose, if possible, a crab with large claws, and one which feels heavy for its size. Take all the meat from the body, carefully picking it out of the claws and from the bony part in the middle.

There are two kinds of flesh, one dark and soft, the other white and firm. Separate the white kind into shreds with a fork. Mix the soft part with the breadcrumbs, and add oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the white meat also with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Then wash the shell thoroughly, and chip off the under portion so as to make a neat, even edge, and then rub a little warmed butter over the outside of the shell to give it a polished appearance.

Next fill the. shell with the two mixtures, arranging them in alternate lines so that they appear in stripes. Separate each stripe by a fine line of parsley. Arrange the small claws, threaded together in a circle, on a lace paper, place the shell on this, and garnish it with a little fresh parsley.