392 CHANGES IN THE CRUSTACEA. [CHAP. ix. 



shrimp would in itself form an interesting chapter of this 

 work, and it is only of late years that many points of the pro- 

 cess have been witnessed and for the first time described. 

 Not long ago, for instance, it was doubtful whether or not the 

 hermit-crabs (Anomoura) shed their skin ; and, that fact being 

 settled, it became a question whether they shed the skin of 

 their tail ! There was a considerable amount of controversy 

 on this delicate point, till the " strange and unexpected dis- 

 covery" was made by Mr. Harper. That gentleman was for- 

 tunate enough to catch a hermit-crab in the very act, and was 

 able to secure the caudal appendage which had just been 

 thrown off. Other matters of controversy have been insti- 

 tuted in reference to the growth of various members of the 

 Crustacea ; indeed, the young of the crab in an early stage 

 have before now been described by naturalists as distinct 

 species, so great is the metamorphosis they undergo before 

 they assume their final shape just as the sprat in good time 

 changes in all probability to the herring. Another point of 

 controversy at one period existed in reference to the power of 

 crustaceans to replace their broken limbs, or occasionally to 

 dispense at their own good pleasure with a limb, when it is 

 out of order, with the absolute certainty of replacing it. 



When the female Crustacea retire in order to undergo their 

 exuviation they are watched, or rather guarded, by the males ; 

 and if one male be taken away, in a short time another will 

 be found to have taken his place. I do not think there is 

 any particular season for moulting ; the period differs in differ- 

 ent places, according to the temperature of the water and other 

 circumstances, so that we might have shell-fish (and white- 

 fish too) all the year round were a little attention paid to the 

 different seasons of exuviation and egg-laying. 



The mode in which a hen lobster lays her eggs is curious : 

 she lodges a quantity of them under her tail, and bears them 

 about for a considerable period ; indeed, till they are so nearly 



