72 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 



Xo doubt the bottom not far from here is rocky, for I 

 have found a rock-shrimp, or as it is commonly called 

 prawn, the scientific name being Palcemon serratus, 

 the saw-bearing palaemon. 



" You would never guess where the prawn carries 

 his carpenter's tool ; it is, if you please, on its head, 

 and does not use it as an instrument to work with, 

 but as a defensive weapon. The saw is so placed that 



I 



THE PKA'WX (Palcemon serratus). 



a fish cannot swallow the prawn head-first without 

 running the risk of being choked. The Palsemon is 

 well aware of this, and thus from fear he keeps his 

 face to the enemy." 



Leon was on the point of dipping his net into the 

 water again, when Bene* stopped him by a gesture. 



"Wretch, that you are; why, you are throwing away 

 a whole dish of fish ! I suppose, however, it would 



