MIGRATION. 179 



From various sources we gather that they 

 live more or less inland, paying, at stated 

 periods, a short visit to the sea ; the females 

 for the purpose of disencumbering themselves 

 of their eggs, which are carried on the under 

 surface of the body. 0# land they dwell in 

 burrows, and in these burrows they undergo 

 the process of exuviation — that is, they cast 

 off their old shells, and acquire a new coat 

 of armour. M. Latreille, the accomplished 

 assistant of baron Cuvier, in his Eegne Animal, 

 sums up the life of these land-crabs in the fol- 

 lowing words : "They pass the greatest pari of 

 their life on land, hiding in burrows, whence 

 they issue forth in the evening. Some take; up 

 their abodes in graveyards. Once a year, 

 when they would lay their eggs, they assemble 

 in numerous troops, and take the shortest 

 course to the sea, without being deterred by 

 any obstacles which they may meet with on the 

 road. After the deposition of the eggs, they 

 return in a state of great debility. During the 

 season of exuviation, they block up the mouths 

 of their burrows. Whilst undergoing this pro- 

 cess, and while still soft, they are termed Boitr- 

 siers, or purse-crabs, and their flesh is then 

 held in high estimation. Nevertheless it is 

 sometimes found to be deleterious, and this 

 quality is attributed to the fruit of the manchi- 

 neel, (Mancenillier,) of which it is supposed, 

 perhaps without foundation, that they have 

 eaten." 



M. Milne Edwards {Hist. Nat. des Crustacees) 



