Some Friends in Armor 



lOI 



which, by the way, have I ever seen an individual suffer 

 a serious bodily injury — all were repeated without es- 

 sential variation from the foregoing incident. Please 

 note, however, that there is always a violent exertion 

 on the part of the aggressor to dislodge the other, and 

 when this is effected it is seemingly brought about by 

 a tug that jerks the defeated crab clear of his shell. 



That this exhibition of force is more apparent than 

 genuine, I shall try to make clear by a brief analysis. 

 If, with my fingers, I attempt to extract a hermit crab 

 from his shell, one of two things is bound to happen. 

 He either will throw off his claw or other appendage 

 which is under tension, or he will suffer his body to part 

 in twain. In the first instance, provided it is a cheliped 

 or walking leg only that is concerned, the damage, par- 

 ticularly in the case of the younger animals, will be 

 compensated for by the growth, or regeneration, of a 

 new member at a succeeding molt. In the latter in- 

 stance it is a graver matter, as the sundering of a vital 

 organ results in almost instant death. Try as I can, 

 however. It is impossible to remove the crab without 

 recourse to methods less violent and of an entirely 

 different nature. 



Now no hermit crab is strong enough to dismember 

 his antagonist, much less pull him apart. It therefore 

 follows that even the largest and most powerful of 

 these animals — whose strength, of course, can not ap- 

 proach that of my fingers — are utterly incapable of 

 drawing an opponent from his shell by sheer force. 



But, granting that the crab's strength is equal to the 

 attempt, it is plain in the case of evenly matched indi- 

 viduals that the aggressor Is as likely to w^renchhis. 



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