AUG. CRABS. 269 



avoid did they employ their leisure hours in such 

 pursuits instead of letting idleness lead them into 

 numberless evil habits ! It is for this reason that 

 I always like to see the study of natural history 

 encouraged in children. 



At the beginning of August I frequently find the 

 crabs (which frequent the rocks left exposed at low 

 water) either just about to change their shell, or 

 just after having changed it. Nothing can be more 

 curious than the manner in which they contrive to 

 draw their legs and claws out of their last year's 

 covering, casting their entire shell perfectly whole 

 and unbroken. A tough skin seems to form over the 

 flesh, under the shell, and of the same colour, which 

 apparently hardens rapidly by exposure (when it 

 is uncovered), and this skin forms the new shell. 



The poor animals are quite helpless till this 

 hardens, and are at the mercy of their numerous 

 enemies. The fishermen say that whilst the female 

 crab is in this weak state the male constantly 

 attends on and protects her. I have myself often 

 seen a crab in her still unhardened shell, closely 

 accompanied by a larger crab, whose shell was per- 

 fectly hard, and who offered battle most valiantly 

 when he and his spouse were approached. 



During the herring-fishing it frequently happens 

 that some strange and rarely seen monster of the 



