and Habits of the Common Prawn. 249 



The first pair of didactylous feet are slender and most delicate 

 in their structure, and, when examined with a magnifying glass, 

 are found to be provided at their extremities with a brush-like 

 appendage of short hairs standing out at right angles to the 

 claw. The power of motion with which these are endued is 

 most wonderful, and their usefulness is applied in every con- 

 ceivable direction, — around the eyes, and among the apparently 

 complicated apparatus of mandibles, antennae and palpi, at the 

 head, within or beneath the carapace, and for some distance 

 between it and the body, particularly when the period of 

 moulting is approaching ; also for the cleansing of the abdo- 

 minal false feet or swimming webs and the expanded lobes of 

 the tail : and the appearance of the prawn during the exe- 

 cution of the brushing or scrubbing operation at these more 

 distant parts is grotesque in the extreme ; the body is supported 

 and raised high on the four pair of legs, the abdominal part and 

 tail being curved forward between them, so that the whole pos- 

 terior division of the creature can be brought within the reach 

 of the first pair of feet, and thus the necessary cleansing opera- 

 tion be readily efi'ected. 



When in full swimming action, the appearance of these beau- 

 tifully transparent creatures is most elegant. The front feet are 

 generally laid backward and tucked under the body like the 

 fore legs of the deer tribe in the act of leaping; the long and 

 delicate antennse stream gracefully on each side of its body, and 

 float for some distance beyond its entire length, while its strong 

 abdominal paddles propel it rapidly through the water. In the 

 aquarium under consideration, the whole of these elegant crea- 

 tures were in the habit, on the summer evenings, of careering 

 to and fro for upwards of an hour^s duration, close to the glass 

 front of the case and towards the room, presenting a most 

 pleasing object, and one which must be observed in order to be 

 appreciated, as no description can convey an adequate idea of the 

 interesting scene. 



It is also a curious and striking phsenomenon to observe these 

 Palcemonidce by the aid of a lighted candle or lamp in a dark 

 room during the night, in consequence of the bright reflection 

 of the luminous body from their prominent pedunculated eyes ; 

 and as the prawn does not retain a stationary position, but 

 slowly roams about through the water and over the rock-work 

 seeking for its food, it adds an increased interest to the appear- 

 ance, to behold these small globes of bright light, like the bulFs- 

 eye signal lamps of a miniature railway engine looming through 

 the distance in a dark night, moving slowly along, the body of 

 the creature being quite imperceptible, and nothing visible but 

 these pairs of globular balls of fire shining from out the dark 



