DADDY-LONG-LEGS 219 



otherwise gripped. The smaller lizards and the legless 

 lizard, called the " slow-worm," have this power in regard 

 to the tail, but they proceed to grow a new tail after 

 they have escaped. Some marine worms have a similar 

 faculty, and some star-fishes (hence called " brittle-stars ") 

 have a most annoying habit of throwing off their " arms " 

 when caught. The central disk of these star-fish, with 

 all its arms shed, can " regenerate " the lost parts. 

 Crabs, too, of various kinds have the habit, when caught 

 by the leg, of breaking it off, and they may often be 

 found with a completely-formed little leg, which has been 

 " regenerated " or grown afresh, and will in due time 

 attain full size. The beautiful hairy skin of the tail of 

 the little dormouse also will come off when the animal is 

 caught by it, leaving the bony blood-stained skeleton of 

 the tail exposed to dry and wither up. There is no 

 re-growth in this case. I was horrified when I was a 

 boy to see six dormice reduced to this condition in the 

 bird and beast shop on the staircase of the old Pantheon 

 bazaar. They had escaped from their cage whilst I was 

 looking on, and the shopman endeavoured to catch them, 

 with this distressing result. 



So we find that the loss of its legs by the 

 " daddy " is a means of safety to it, and is a similar 

 provision to that seen in some other animals. It seems 

 improbable that the " old father long-legs " who " would 

 not say his prayers " (according to an ancient nursery 

 rhyme), is a myth referring to a daddy-long-legs of the 

 insect kind, since the recommendation to " take him by 

 his left leg and throw him downstairs " would have been 

 futile ; his left leg would have come off as soon as seized, 

 and have greatly embarrassed the individual intending 

 to throw him downstairs ! Another kind of insect-like 

 animal, which occurs commonly in cobwebby outhouses, 



