176 LIFE BY THE SEASHORE. 



resemblance. They are often separated, because the por- 

 celain crabs are in popular view crabs, while the Galathea 

 would popularly be described as a kind of lobster. We 

 shall see how nearly the two resemble one another, so that 

 this family, like not a few others, may be described as 

 linking crabs to lobsters. 



First as to Galathea when stooping over a rock pool 

 paved with promising stones, you will not unlikely see 

 darting through the water an animal whose movements are 

 so swift that it seems to be gone before you are well aware 

 of its presence. Momentary as the impression is, however, 

 it will probably have convinced you that the motion is 

 unlike that of a fish. If you employ all the artifices at 

 your disposal, and by draining the pool, removing its stones, 

 and searching its furthest recesses, compel the object of 

 your search to reveal himself, you will probably find a 

 Galathea. Even so, however, seeing is not catching, and 

 there is many a slip between the Galathea and the collecting 

 bottle. I well remember the first specimen I had the 

 fortune to catch. The chase had been long, and the pool 

 was deep, but at last the wary Crustacean had been got 

 into a corner, and heedless of her footing the would-be 

 captor made a sudden dart. It was successful, and for one 

 joyful instant I held the prize in my grasp. But it was 

 just an instant; there was a sudden jerk and a splash, and 

 I was left in the pool with one great claw in my hand, 

 while the Galathea twiddled his whiskers in insolent con- 

 tempt from an inaccessible crevice. I then learnt that the 

 "power of autotomy is possessed by the higher Crustacea 

 to a very marked degree," but that information, though 

 valuable, did not bring back the Galathea. Nor was I 

 much consoled on learning further that "the autotomy is 

 reflex and due to the stimulation of the sensory nerve," 

 or in plain English that if I hadn't pinched the claw the 

 Galathea wouldn't have thrown it off, for I defy anyone 

 to catch a Galathea by one leg while floundering in the 

 water, and not pinch that leg. It is therefore better, on 

 the whole, not to catch your specimens by the legs, but 

 to try and gently persuade them to enter a net or collecting 

 bottle. 



When caught, you will find that Galathea at first sight 



