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to a certain law all over the> body, and between which the 

 crab with its claws very cleverly hooks fast the algae and 

 other things. The large Maja Squinado, sea- spider, or more 

 correctly , spider-crab , for there are no spiders in the sea , 

 covers its back with little stones and shells, instead of with 

 such a miniature wood. Among the crabs with four-cornered 

 bodies we meet with similar habits. The Dorippe lanata 

 gets hold of any living or dead body within its reach , holds 

 above its body with its hinder reversed legs, and thus shielded, 

 stalks proudly about. Whatever it may find, sea cucumbers, 

 ascidiae, crabs , star-fish, fish heads, bits of glass or wood 

 iu short anything and everything which can serve as a shield, 

 is annexed without further ado, and naturally, in case of the 

 desired shield being a living animal, there ensues a comic con- 

 flict between the instict-obeying crab and its reluctant victim. 

 Another animal the Dromia, or wool-crab , covers its back with 

 a certain kind of sponge the orange- coloured Suberites so 

 completely, that when looked at from above nothing is to be 

 seen of the crab but its legs. These crabs are also provided 

 with a pair of legs turned backward for this purpose , which 

 hold the sponge fast. The Homola and Ethusa have similar 

 habits. The simplest mode of escaping danger is by burying in 

 the sand, a habit seen in the Calappa, or bashful crab. With 

 a few vigorous movements of its large shovel- shaped claws , 

 this animal buries itself up to the eyes and carefully examines 

 the neighbourhood from its retreat. 



Tho same habit is seen in the active shore-crabs , such as 

 the Carcinus, Paehygrapsus, Eriphia, and the Portunus 

 and Lupa, whose slyness and activity are really astonishing, 

 and, with their ability to move on the land, indicates a higher 

 organisation. Whoever has tried to catch these crabs in their 

 natural haunts will remember the difficulty he had to secure 

 even one, and also the cleverness with which the little fugitive 

 availed itself of every cranny, and the bold manner in which 

 it defended itself when driven into a corner. The strong Eri- 

 phiae are especially ready to fight and pinch with their pow- 

 erful claws everything held out to them. In the Aquarium 

 we have seen them break thick glass tubes in this manner. 

 All shore crabs can live for a long time out of water, and move 

 on land with almost the same agility as in the water. 



Besides the above described crabs with five pair of legs, we 

 must notice one belonging to a lower order. This is the grass- 

 hopper-crab, or Squilla mantis, a slender, active and pre- 



