()6 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore 



windfall occurs; and the event seems to be telegraphed 

 to the legions of the sea. Myriads hasten to the ban- 

 quet. One and all, they come: the snails, the worms, 

 the crustaceans. All, within the radius of the efHuvial 

 currents hurry to dispose of the corpse. Thus, in the 

 economy of nature, each individual plays a part of the 

 utmost impctance; for it is through the desperate 

 agency of hunger that the waters of our shores are 

 purified. 



After reducing the portion which he holds in his big 

 pincer to a size small enough to be manipulated by the 

 pair of fingerlike clasping appendages near his mouth, 

 he passes to these what is left, and decides to move on. 

 He does not proceed more than a few feet, however, 

 before he stops and devotes some time in consuming 

 what he can of the rest of his food; but, as he has 

 literally bitten off more than he can chew, he finally 

 ends by rejecting the remainder altogether. 



Having satisfied the inner man, the hermit crab now 

 gives some consideration to his external needs; for he 

 is more or less of a fop, and will sometimes spend 

 hours in grooming himself. Using either claw with 

 equal facility, he rubs and scraps all parts of his fore 

 body and its appendages. His time, however, is given 

 mostly to the cleaning of his feelers, his eyestalks, and 

 his legs, whereof the joint of the last named receive 

 particular attention. Moreover, these toilet functions 

 are very necessary; were he to neglect them in the 

 slightest detail, his crust would eventually be overrun 

 with plant growths which find in the horny composition 

 an admirable holdfast; and their presence would in- 

 directly cause his premature death by impeding his 



