114 Diccl/i-rs of the Sea and Shore 



glazed confines. in the direct patli of these excursions 

 stood the anemone. Now it seems not to be one of 

 the traits of the crab when meeting with an obstacle 

 to choose the more sensible and easier method of going 

 around it; instead, his course is an attempt to go di- 

 rectly ovxr it. This was Hank's intention whenever he 

 came upon the anemone; but the contact of his feelers 

 with the arms of the coclenterate caused him to recoil 

 with surprise. It may be interposed here that, al- 

 though the touch of the anemone's tentacles is deadly 

 to very small organisms, their potency is quite lost on 

 the tough armor that encases the fore body of the 

 hermit crab. Still, their power is considerable, as I 

 have had occasion to learn by testing with the tip of 

 my tongue; and I have no doubt, therefore, that the 

 sting is as acutely felt with those delicate tactile organs 

 of sense, the antennae of the crab. 



As the unpleasant contact with the anemone was 

 assuredly one to be avoided, it might well be assumed 

 that after three or four repetitions of his blunder, 

 Hank would give that animal a wide berth. But three 

 or four hundred repetitions failed to inculcate in him 

 the slightest recollection of the dangerous spot. Time 

 and time again, on his perpetual rounds he would 

 blindly walk into the tentacles, never learning by ex- 

 perience or memory to avoid their painful touch. 



Now, it has doubtless struck the reader long before 

 this that it is a somewhat unfortunate, as well as a 

 curious, circumstance for the hermit crab to be marked 

 among all crustaceans by the double affliction of pos- 

 session of a weak body and being obliged to bear a 

 burdensome load throughout the greater part of his 



