158 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



hermit or soldier-crab. His armour, defensive and 

 offensive, consists of two great claws, as large ns a 

 man's thumb, and so powerful that they are capable 

 of making very deep wounds. This ugly fellow may 

 often be seen on the rolled pebbles of a beach, drag- 

 ging his old house behind him. Presently he stops 

 before an empty crabshell, he examines it under all 

 its aspects, and, after withdrawing his tail from his 

 old abode, he tries to enter backwards, as his wont, 

 into the new house. Probably he does not find it to 

 his taste, in wliich case he tucks himself into his 

 former habitation, and marches off again in search of 

 a more convenient apartment. He looks at one shell 

 after another, until he finds an abode to his liking ; 

 he then huddles himself into it, though it may be 

 sufficiently capacious to contain not only his body but 

 his great claws. It occasionally happens that two of 

 these animals select the same shell for their lodging. 

 When this happens, they fight with their claws till 

 the weaker is obliged to give w^ay. The victor then 

 takes possession of his conquest, and for some time 

 marches boastfully up and down before his discom- 

 fited rival. 



Among the smallest of these crustaceans, there is 

 one (the Bernhardus, or hermit-crab) which has a 

 penchant for the shells of the small molluscs. It is 

 only partly armed, having a helmet and a breast- 



