132 HISTORY OF BRITISH CRUSTACEA. 



integument. Ever and anon the tiny forcipes of the hand 

 are employed to seize and pull off any fragment of ex- 

 traneous manner which clings to the skin too firmly to be 

 removed by brushing; it is plucked off and thrown away, 

 clear of the bodv and limbs. The loner antennae and all 

 the other limbs are cleaned by means of the foot-jaws prin- 

 cipally." 



Mr. Warington has published in the 'Zoologist' for May 

 1855, many interesting observations on the Natural History 

 and Habits of the Prawn, and from this account we borrow 

 a passage describing its change of skin. "When the period 

 arrives at which the Prawn is about to throw off its old ex- 

 ternal covering, it ceases to feed, and seeks about from spot 

 to spot in a restless and fidgety manner, until it has fixed 

 on a locality apparently sufficiently adapted for the purpose 

 required, and suited to its fancy; for this really appears at 

 times to be the case. The third, fourth, and fifth pairs of 

 legs are then stretched out wide apart, and the feet hooked 

 so as to hold firmly upon the surrounding substances, in 

 such a way that the body may be poised and capable of 

 moving freely in all directions, as though suspended on 

 gimbals. The Prawn then slowly sways itself to and fro, 

 and from side to side, with strong muscular efforts, appa- 



