SEA-SCORPIONS 55 



beautiful restoration in wax of Eurypterus Fischeri may be seen 

 in the Gallery of Crustacea in the Natural History Museum. 



Our Sea-scorpions are related to the king-crab of the present 

 day. Now, this creature, it is well known, burrows into the mud 

 and sand at the bottom of the sea. This it does by shoving its 

 broad sharp-edged head-shield downwards, working rapidly at 

 the same time with its hinder feet, or appendages, and by push- 

 ing with the long spike that forms a kind of tail. It will 

 thus sink deeper and deeper until nothing can be seen of its 

 body, and only the eyes peep out of the mud. It will crawl and 

 wander about by night, but remains hidden by day. Some indi- 

 viduals are of large size, and occasionally measure two feet in 

 length. They possess six pairs of well-formed feet, the joints of 

 which, near the body, are armed with teeth and spines, and serve 

 the purpose of jaws, being used to masticate the food and force it 

 into the mouth, which is situated between them. 



Now, this fact is of great importance ; for it helps us to under- 

 stand the use of the four pairs of "jaw-feet " in our Sea-scorpions. 

 What curious animals they must have been, using the same 

 limbs for walking, holding their prey, and eating ! Look at the 

 broad plates at the base of the oar-like limbs, or appendages, with 

 their tooth-like edges. These are the plates found by Hugh 

 Miller's quarrymen, and compared by them to the wings of 

 seraphim. The reader will easily perceive that by a backward 

 and forward movement, they would perform the office of teeth 

 and jaws, while the long antennae with their nippers helped by 

 the other and smaller appendages held the unfortunate victim 

 in a relentless grasp. And even these smaller limbs, as seen 

 from the figure, had their first joints, near the mouth, provided 

 with toothed edges like a saw. 



With regard to the habits of Sea-scorpions, it would not be 



