344 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Curious observation Irascibility. 



regularly, the old shells always remaining till 

 they have recovered their proper strength and 

 vigor. 



The fishermen, when they take a crah that i* 

 not in good condition, return it to the sea, and 

 sometimes mark it on the back with a sharp- 

 pointed instrument, or the end of a knife; and it 

 is very surprising that this mark may not only he 

 seen to remain on the old shell, but that it is 

 also found impressed on the subsequent new one. 

 These men also say that, when crabs have had 

 their shells marked, and been carried out to the 

 distance of two or three miles, and thrown among 

 others, they will always find their way back 

 again : this the men have often observed by 

 catching them in their former haunts. 



These animals are naturally very quarrelsome, 

 and frequently have serious contests by means of 

 of those formidable weapons, their great claws. 

 With these they lay hold of their adversary's 

 legs, and wherever they seize it is not easy to 

 make them forego their hold. They frequently 

 retain some part of the leg or limb as a token of 

 victory. 



In order to prove the extreme tenacious dis- 

 position of the crab, a fisherman, in the presence 

 of Mr. Collinson made, by irritation, a crab seize 

 one of its own small claws with a large one. The 

 foolish creature did not distinguish that it was it- 

 self the aggressor, but exerted its strength, and 

 soon cracked the shell of the small claw. Feeling 



