400 THE ROBBER-CRAB. 



its exposed claws and head being reinforced, as it were, by handsome scaled armor. These 

 portions are extremely hard, and of a bright brick color. Once ensconced in the shell, which 

 in its stoutness is like a castle, the armored front that Hermit presents may defy any enemy. 

 But strategy sometimes succeeds. Once the creature unconsciously peeps too far away from 

 his sally-port, he is outflanked, and forced to give battle outside his portcullis. Few objects 

 are more entertaining. The great Land Hermits are especially so. They never go to the sea, 

 but live in dry places, where they burrow under stones or logs. 



The DIOGENES HERMIT-CRAB is a handsome and rather large species that inhabits Brazil 

 and the West India Islands. 



It occupies the shells of various mollusks, mostly, however, giving the preference to some 

 large species of turbo ; and Mr. Bennett mentions that he possesses an unique shell which he 

 found on the branch of a tree, having been taken from the sea by one of these crabs. While 

 living, the Diogenes gives out a very unpleasant odor ; and as the crabs are in the habit of 

 assembling in great numbers, the aggregate effect is rather overpowering. They gather 

 together at the foot of trees or under bushes or brushwood, and even contrive to clarhber up 

 the branches or the trunks of trees, drawing themselves up by their powerful claws and limbs, 

 and caring little for the heavy burden which they bear on their backs. They have the power 

 of producing a curious noise, something like the croak of a frog alternating with sounds as if 

 of drawing water through the lips. 



They are active and voracious beings, and feed with equal avidity on animal and vegetable 

 substances. They prefer animal food, such as fish, crabs, and, indeed, almost any kind of 

 flesh, but they will greedily eat yams, cocoa-nut, and other fruits. They are timid creatures, 

 croaking when disturbed, and seldom attempting to fight, but draw themselves smartly within 

 their homes as soon as they feel alarmed. They are mostly nocturnal in their habits ; and as 

 they bring a large supply of shells to land, and are very fastidious about their accommodation 

 a great heap of empty shells is to be seen upon the shore, and there is a continual rattle during 

 the night as the creatures knock the shells about in their movements. 



In all these creatures the larger claw is very much developed; so that when the crab has 

 withdrawn into the shell, the claw lies over the entrance and closes it like a living door, which 

 has the further advantage of being used as an offensive weapon. The footstalks on which the 

 eyes are set, are moderately long, stout, and jointed, and enable their possessor to see in all 

 directions. The color of this species is reddish-brown, spotted thickly with black. 



A common species at Tortugas is the Diogenes. In an old wooden building attached to 

 the Post, we had a room for the examination and care of natural objects. Under this building 

 the Diogenes lived, several of them. One exhibited symptoms of restlessness, and after sev- 

 eral days of fruitless wandering in and out of our room, he ultimately came to a halt, and a 

 determination to scale the corner of a bookcase, where a saucer of fresh water chanced to be. 

 With his heavy Trochas shell hanging like a soldier's equipments from his back, he reached, 

 with tolerable celerity, the shelf, or top, of the bookcase. Here he sipped, and moistened his 

 gills, and cautiously commenced the return. This he accomplished much as any climbing 

 mammal would, hand over hand, with the body hanging behind. This crab repeated the feat 

 often, apparently for the purpose of moistening its gills. It became quite tame ; would take 

 food from the hand. It was sent north to Massachusetts, where a land Hermit is a strange 

 thing. There it moulted twice, but though it was protected under glass, it died after a year's 

 captivity. Several others were placed among loose packages in a box and sent north, but the 

 strongest had battled with the others and destroyed them, leaving nothing but dried shells. A 

 small specimen of the same had picked up a cast-off clay pipe, and this we cherished for a 

 time as a comical example. The bodies of these Hermits are soft and worm-like. 



Closely allied to the hermit-crabs, we find a very remarkable creature, called from its habits 

 the ROBBER-CRAB. It is also known by the name of PURSE-CRAB. The habits of this creature, 

 which will presently be described, are most remarkable, and there are several singular peculi- 

 arities of structure. The abdomen, for example, is no longer soft as in the hermits, but is 

 covered above with strong plates, which overlap each other like those of the lobster's tail. 

 The under surface of the abdomen is soft and membranous. This is one of the Crustacea that 



