ENTOMOSTRACA. 295 



of six or eight feet, but at other times they crowd 

 to the surface. Their food consists only of vegetable 

 matters. They have but a single eye, whence their 

 Linnaean name of Monoculus. Several other genera 

 of equal minuteness and similar manners are often 

 associated with these, one or two of which we have 

 figured above. 



Limuku,* the King-crab. 



The animals of the other Order, PCECILOPODA,! 

 have very different structure and functions assigned 

 to their feet, which are not branching ; they are also 

 destitute of the jaws of the other Crustacea. The 

 King-crab or Horse-foot (L. Polyphemus^) is an ani- 

 mal of considerable size, being sometimes two feet 

 in length. It is common on the coast of America 

 from New York southward, and in the West Indies. 

 It has no distinct head : but its body is covered with 

 a convex, semicircular shell, thin, elastic, and horny ; 

 to which is attached a long, pointed hard spine or 

 tail, used as a formidable weapon by the Indians. 

 Being of slow motion, and easily overset by the surf, 

 the dead bodies of these creatures cover the shore in 

 heaps, so that in Delaware Bay, one might walk on 

 them for ten miles, without touching the ground. 

 The hogs are regularly driven down to feed on them, 

 and their bodies are drawn by waggon-loads to be 

 used as manure. 



* Limulus, awry or crooked. 



f UoiKt^as, poikilos, various, and -jfovs , pous, a foot. 



J Polyphemus^ the name of a fabled giant, having but one eye. 



