OUT OF THE DEPTHS 115 



as he did not bear the most distant resemblance 

 to the distinguished statesman who was usually 

 known by that title. Spider-crabs are of dif- 

 ferent sizes and shapes, and many species are 

 common here, some with scarcely any body and 

 very long and attenuated legs, some clothed, 

 some bare, some great, and some small. Next 

 we see a large red-coloured hermit-crab, look- 

 ing stupid and unprotected, with its soft, flabby, 

 degenerate tail, no longer covered by a stolen 

 shell. Search the now diminished heap, and 

 the home he has abandoned in his fright will 

 soon be found. There it is, an empty whelk- 

 shell, covered completely over with a curious 

 soft lilac-spotted garment, the cloak anemone, 

 which is also in an excited state, as appears by 

 the long, thread-like lilac acontia which pro- 

 trude from its spots. Put it into the sea-water 

 bottle, and the hermit with it ; with what alac- 

 rity he darts back into his house, and closes 

 the front door with his large right claw ! The 

 two thieving rogues are united at once both 

 quite at home, one inside and the other outside 

 the shell manufactured by its original proprietor 

 for its own exclusive use and convenience. Surely 

 there are few more curious creatures than this 

 parasitic anemone, never found except on a whelk 

 shell, and one inhabited by a hermit crab, upon 

 which it is dependent, as it soon dies if deprived 

 of its companion by desertion or death. Why, 



