THE PEAWN'S AEMS. 99 



a knight of chivalry, the Prawn lives, eats, sleeps in 

 armour. How completely is his body encased in defen- 

 sive mail; and he carries his tempered weapon too. 

 Look at the serrate sword which he always points at the 

 foe whom he faces ! Who would rashly provoke such 

 a weapon as this ? Stiff and firm in substance, long, 

 pointed, two-edged, keen on both edges, curved sabre - 

 like, and cut into acute teeth; it does seem a most 

 formidable affair : and yet, truth to tell, I do not know 

 what use the owner makes of it. Though I have been 

 for many years in the practice of keeping these elegant 

 animals in my aquaria, I have never seen one smite a 

 foe with his two-edged sword. Perhaps like the cane 

 over the looking-glass in a nursery, its mere presence is 

 sufficient to keep in awe encroaching enemies, whose 

 hearts sink when they behold the sharp-toothed weapon. 



Exquisitely painted is the Prawn. His ground colour 

 is semi-pellucid olive-grey, on which transverse lines of 

 black are drawn ; and specks and dashes of sparkling 

 white, symmetrically arranged and well defined, are 

 scattered here and there, especially upon the broad 

 swimming plates that serve as his principal instruments 

 of locomotion. His limbs, too, are ringed with blue and 

 orange, a felicitous combination ! 



I have just alluded to the tail as a motive power. It 

 is a very curious organ, consisting of five plates, so 



