HAIRY PORCELAIN CRAB. 191 



pace. The anterior legs are large, flattened above ; the wrist 

 quadrilateral, the sides nearly parallel, rather longer than 

 broad, rounded beneath, furnished on the inner margin near 

 the base with a triangular lobe or tooth, which is slightly 

 denticulated ; the hand flattened above, the palmar portion 

 triangular, furnished on the outer side with long close 

 hairs ; the fingers triangular, slightly incurved, meeting 

 only at the tips, the moveable one deeply grooved through 

 its whole length, the inner edges slightly granulated. The 

 second to the fourth pairs of feet, compressed at the sides, 

 rounded beneath, hairy ; the terminal joint very short. Ab- 

 domen with the centre slightly raised. 



Colour reddish-brown, paler and yellowish beneath ; the 

 hairs brown. 



Ordinary length of the carapace half an inch ; length 

 of the anterior pair of legs one inch and three-tenths. 



The distribution of this species is extensive, and in some 

 localities it is also very numerous. I have received speci- 

 mens from various parts of our coast, from the Orkneys to 

 the Land's End. It is found also on several parts of the 

 Irish coast ; and it is plentiful on the coast of France, and 

 in the Mediterranean. Some of the largest and finest that 

 have come under my observation, were sent me by Dr. 

 Duguid from Kirkwall in Orkney. It is a littoral species, 

 being generally found under stones at low water. It bites 

 severely, as Dr. Duguid remarks ; and if seized by its 

 claws, has the power of throwing them off instantly to faci- 

 litate its escape. 



This is a further example of the favourable influence of a 

 northern climate on the growth and development of parti- 

 cular animals, the specimens which are ordinarily taken 

 on the northern part of our coast, and especially those 

 which I received from Orkney, being much finer than those 



