Life Beneath the Waves, 39 



In its first stage of existence the young 

 crab has, says a writer on this subject, " a 

 helmet-shaped head, terminating behind in 

 a long horn, and furnished in front with 

 a pair of huge sessile eyes, and it moves 

 through the water by means of its long 

 swimming tail. After the first change of 

 skin the body assumes something like its 

 permanent shape ; the claws are developed, 

 and the legs resemble those of the crab; 

 but the change is still incomplete, for the 

 tail is still long, and furnished with false 

 feet like that of the lobster. The swimming 

 habit has not yet been laid aside. At the 

 next stage, while the little creature is still 

 about the eighth of an inch in diameter, 

 the crab-form is completed, the abdomen 

 folding in under the carapace. All the 

 subsequent changes are merely changes 

 of coat, consequent on the growth of the 



