THE SOLDIER-CRAB. 95 



view. Perhaps they may accelerate the decomposi- 

 tion of the shells they inhabit, and cause them sooner 

 to give way to the action of the atmosphere ; and as 

 all exuviae may be termed nuisances and deformities, 

 giving to these deserted mansions an appearance 

 of renewed life and locomotion, removes them in 

 some sort from the catalogue of blemishes/ 



Professor Jones, when treating of this class of 

 animals, forcibly remarks that ' the wonderful adap- 

 tation of all the limbs to a residence in such a dwell- 

 ing, cannot fail to strike the most curious observer. 

 The Chelce, or large claws, differ remarkably in size, 

 so that when the animal retires into its concealment, 

 the smaller one may be entirely withdrawn, while 

 the larger closes and guards the orifice. The two 

 succeeding pairs of legs, unlike those of the Lobster, 

 are of great size and strength, and instead of being 

 terminated by pincers, end in strong-pointed levers, 

 whereby the animal can not only crawl, but drag after 

 it, its heavy habitation. Behind these locomotive 

 legs are two feeble pairs, barely strong enough to 

 enable the Soldier-Crab to shift his position in the 

 shell he has chosen ; and the false feet attached to 

 the abdomen are even still more rudimentary in their 

 development. But the most singularly altered 

 portion of the skeleton is the fin of the tail, which 

 here becomes transformed into a kind of holding ap- 

 paratus by which the creature retains a firm grasp of 

 the bottom of his residence/ 



