PALiEMON. 133 



rently for the purpose of loosening the whole surface of 

 the body from the carapace ; the two pair of prehensile or 

 didactylons legs are at the same time kept raised from the 

 ground, stretched forwards, and frequently passed over each 

 other with a rubbing motion, as if to destroy any remaining 

 adhesion ; the eyes also may be observed to be moved 

 within their covering by muscular contraction from side to 

 side; and when every precaution appears to have been 

 perfectly taken for the withdrawal of its body from its 

 too limited habiliments, a fissure is observed to take place 

 between the carapace and the abdomen at the upper and 

 back part, and the head, antennae, legs, feet, and all their 

 appendages, are slowly and carefully drawn backward and 

 out from the dorsal shield, until the eyes are quite clear of 

 the body-shell or carapace, and appear above the upper 

 margin of it ; the Prawn, thus half released, then makes a 

 sudden backward spring or jerk, and the whole of the 

 exuvium is left behind, generally adhering by the shell of 

 the six feet to the surface it had selected for its purpose. 

 ... At the moment the Prawn has been thus liberated 

 from its old envelope, it rolls on the surface of the ground, 

 perfectly helpless, for it is at first evidently so soft that it 

 does not possess the power of supporting its own weight 



