BUCCINUM WHELK. 85 



quests of the Assyrian monarch. " And it shall 

 come to pass in that day that the Lord shall 

 hiss (or whistle) for the bee that is in the land of 

 Assyria. And they shall come, and shall rest 

 all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the 

 holes of the rock, and upon all thorns and upon 

 all bushes." Isa.vii. 18, 19. 



Various species of turbinated shells, chiefly 

 of the Buccinum or Whelk tribe, are picked up 

 on the shores of the Isle of Wight. They are 

 found tenanted not by their natural inhabitants, 

 who love the deep recesses of the ocean, but by 

 a species of Crab called the Bernard, or Hermit 

 Crab. This creature curiously exhibits the 

 wonderful operations of animal instinct, whilst 

 he exemplifies in a striking manner the resources 

 of a compensatory Providence. The hinder part 

 of his body is tender and naked, unprotected 

 by that shelly covering which guards his head 

 and anterior extremities ; he would therefore be 

 peculiarly liable to injuries were he not endowed 

 with a foresight that directs him most inge- 

 niously to provide against any accident. This 

 he effects by seeking for the roomy cavity of 

 some forsaken Whelk, and wriggling himself 

 into it, he maintains his hold by means of a 

 hooked claw, which he fastens to any projection 

 in the shell, while his head and front claws hang 

 out at the aperture. Thus secure, this little crab 

 continues till increased in size he is compelled to 

 abandon his retreat and seek for a tenement of more 

 ample dimensions ; at such times he maybe seen 



