THE BROAD-CLAW PORCELAIN-CRAB. 461 



can endure a long absence from water, and is fitted with a peculiar addition to the breathing 

 apparatus. There are twenty -eight gills, fourteen at each side of the body, and enclosed in a 

 large hollow, which they do not nearly fill. Even when the footstalks are considered, on 

 which the gills rest, they hardly occupy the tenth part of the hollow. 



The Robber-crab is found in several parts of the Indian Ocean, is very common in 

 Amboyna, and has been taken off the Mauritius. Mr. Darwin gives the following interesting 

 account of this crab : " It : would at first be thought impossible for a crab to open a strong 

 cocoa-nut covered with the husk, but Mr. Liesk assures me he has repeatedly seen the operation 

 effected. The crab begins by tearing the husk, fibre by fibre, and always at that end under 

 which the three eye-holes are situated. When this is accomplished, the animal commences 

 hammering with its heavy claws on one of these holes till an opening is made ; then, turning 

 round its body, by the aid of its posterior and narrow pair of pincers, it extracts the white 

 albuminous substance of the nut. 



''I think this is as curious a case of instinct as ever was heard of, and likewise of 

 adaptation of structure between objects apparently so remote from each other in the scheme 

 of nature as a crab and a cocoa-nut tree. This crab is diurnal in its habits, but every night it 

 is said to pay a visit to the sea, no doubt for the purpose of moistening its branchiae. The 

 young are likewise hatched and live for some time on the coast. These crabs inhabit deep 

 burrows, which they excavate beneath the roots of trees, and here they accumulate surprising 

 quantities of the picked fibres of the cocoa-nut husk, on which they rest as on a bed. The 

 Malays sometimes take advantage of their labor by collecting the coarse fibrous substance, 

 and using it as junk." 



In the missionary voyage of Messrs. Tyerman and Bennett, a very spirited account is 

 given of these crabs, and one or two interesting details are mentioned. For example, when 

 the crab walks it raises itself well off the ground, standing nearly a foot in height, and gets 

 along quickly, though with a clumsy and stiff gait. The antennae are very sensitive, and it is 

 said that if they are touched with oil, the creature immediately dies. Another mode of opening 

 the shell is employed by these crabs besides that which is mentioned by Mr. Darwin, for, 

 according to Messrs. Tyerman and Bennett, the crab, after tearing off the husk, insinuates the 

 smaller joint of the claw into one of the holes at the end of the nut, and then beats the fruit 

 against a stone until the shell is broken. 



This crab is by no means handsome, but is a very large and remarkably shaped creature. 

 A fine specimen, when stretched out at length, will measure between two and three feet in 

 length, and as it is stout in proportion to its length, it may rank with some of the largest of the 

 crustaceans. The abdomen is of a curious form, and is evidently one of the structures inter- 

 mediate between the crabs and the lobsters. Its general color is pale yeiiowish-brcwn, and its 

 limbs are covered with little projections of a nearly black hue. 



During the day the Robber-crab mostly hides in the fissures of rocks, or in iK'le? at the 

 foot of the trees, and in the evening issues from its concealment to prey upon the oocoa-nut. 

 Its wonderful skill and power in opening this huge fruit have already been mentioned, but 

 some writers give it credit for more extensive qualities, and say that it is in the habit of 

 climbing up the palm trees for the purpose of obtaining the fruit. The particular palm which 

 it is said to climb is the Pandanus odoratissimus. 



It appears to be fierce in proportion to its strength, and Mr. Cuming found that if inter- 

 cepted in its passage, it at first tried to intimidate its disturber by holding up the claws and 

 clattering them loudly ; and that even when it found itself obliged to give ground, it retreated 

 with its face to the enemy, still maintaining a threatening attitude. The eyes of the Robber- 

 crab stand on rather long but stout footstalks. 



WE now come to the Porcelain-crabs, so called because their shells are smooth and 

 polished as if made of porcelain, and have much of the peculiar semi-transparent gloss of that 

 manufacture. The specimen shown in the engraving is of natural size. 



Several of these crabs are natives of the European seas, among which we may mention two 

 species. The first of these is the common BKOAD-CLAW PORCELAIN-CRAB, so called from the 



