THE MINUTE PORCELAIN-CRAB. 77 



him. To my surprise he did not run away as usual. 

 Having waited for some minutes, and looking upon 

 his obstinacy as unpardonable, I tapped him with a 

 little stick still he never moved. A sudden thought 

 flashed across my mind ; I took him up in my hand, 

 examined him, and quickly found that he was stiff 

 and dead! 



There is a little crab, Porcellana longicornis, or 

 Minute Porcelain- Crab, frequently to be met with 

 in certain localities. 



The peculiarity of this creature is the thickness 

 and the great disproportionate length of his arms, 

 as compared with the size of his pea-like body. He 

 possesses a singular habit which I have not observed 

 in any other crustaceans. He does not sit under a 

 stone, for instance, but always lies beneath such object 

 with his back upon the ground ; so that when a 

 boulder is turned over, these crabs are always found 

 sitting upon it, whereas the shore-crabs, when the 

 light of day is suddenly let in upon them, scamper 

 off with all possible speed ; or if any remain, it ap- 

 pears as if they had been pressed to death almost, 

 by the weight of the stone upon their backs. 



The colour of P. longicornis is that of prepared 

 chocolate, shaded off to a warm red. 



Another crab, equally common with those already 

 mentioned, is to be met with when dredging, and in 

 most rock pools. At Wardie, near Edinburgh, I 



