ORDINARY HABITS OF HERMIT CRAB. 363 



" As when the fierce south wind, or bleaker north, 

 Has burst into the thickest of a wood, 

 And rushing on, to force a passage forth, 

 Behind him leaves a prostrate forest strew'd, 

 And drives before him with a madman's mirth 

 The foliage flying." 



As surely as the evening comes, so surely do these 

 devastators begin their gambols, till, with their pick- 

 axe legs and harrowing shells, they have torn, raked 

 up, and mangled everything within. Truly it may 

 be said, that, where they have their way, 



" Ruin itself stands still for lack of work, 

 And Desolation keeps unbroken sabbath." 



Behind the powerful locomotive legs are two feeble 

 pairs, barely strong enough to enable the Hermit 

 Crab to shift his position in his retreat ; and the false 

 feet attached to the abdomen are even still more 

 rudimentary in their development. But the most 

 singularly-altered portion of the skeleton is the fin of 

 the tail, which here becomes transformed into a kind 

 of holding-apparatus, by the aid whereof the crea- 

 ture retains a firm grasp upon the interior of the 

 apex of the shell forming his residence, and thus 

 carries it about without any difficulty. 



The Hermit Crab is lively and very voracious; it 

 is, however, of a peaceful disposition, so that several 

 specimens may be placed in the same tank, where 

 they will live for a considerable time on terms of 

 apparent friendship; although, truth to say, their 

 amicable conduct is probably rather owing to the 

 impossibility of attacking their neighbours, except 

 upon the same terms as a dog attempts to draw a 



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