HERMIT-CRAB. 103 



commodious lodging. Having found his heart's de- 

 sire, he proceeds to occupy it sans ceremonie, leaving 

 his old casing for some younger and less corpulent 

 brother. 



HERMIT-CRAB, in Shell of Large Whelk (fiuccuuim Undatum). 



" Why our so-called Hermits are gifted with this 

 singular instinct, is not easy to conjecture. Many 

 other creatures make use of houses they had no hand 

 in erecting, as the bees, the cuckoo, and sometimes 

 the bear, &c.; but I do not recollect any that, as it 

 were, clothe themselves with the cast-off garments of 

 other animals. Providence, besides the defence of 

 their otherwise unprotected bodies, has no doubt 

 some object of importance in view in giving them 

 this instinct. Perhaps they may accelerate the de- 

 composition of the shells they inhabit, and cause 

 them sooner to give way to the action of the atmo- 

 sphere ; and as all exuviae may be termed nuisances 

 and deformities, giving to these deserted mansions 

 an appearance of renewed life and locomotion, re- 



