84 RAMBLESOr 



not required to reason upon what they observe : 

 they have a nervous system excellently suited to 

 their mode of life, and its knots or ganglia send 

 out nerves to the organs of sense, digestion, motion, 

 etc. The senses of these beings are very acute, 

 especially their sight, hearing, and smell. Most 

 of my readers have heard of crabs' eyes, or have 

 seen these organs in the animal on the end of two 

 little projecting knobs, above and on each side of 

 the mouth : few of them, however, have seen the 

 crab's ear; yet it is very easily found, and is a 

 little triangular bump placed near the base of UK; 

 feelers. This bump has a membrane stretched over 

 it, and communicates with a small cavity, which is 

 the internal ear. The organ of smell is not so 

 easily demonstrated as that of hearing, though the 

 evidence of their possessing the sense to an acute 

 degree is readily attainable. A German naturalist 

 inferred, from the fact of the nerve corresponding 

 to the olfactory nerve in man being distributed to 

 the antennae, in insects, that the antennas were the 

 organs of smell in them. Cuvier and others suggest 

 that a similar arrangement may exist in the crusta- 

 cea. To satisfy myself whether it was so or not, I 

 lately dissected a small lobster, and was delighted 

 to find that the first pair of nerves actually went 

 to the antennas, and gave positive support to the 

 opinion mentioned. I state this, not to claim cre- 

 dit for ascertaining the . truth or inaccuracies of a 

 suggestion, but with a view of inviting the reader 

 to do the same in all cases of doubt. Where it is 



