ANECDOTE. . 117 



instead of boldly exhibiting themselves during the 

 day, generally hide under pebbles or pieces of rock, 

 or are buried in the sand, it is sometimes necessary 

 to submit the contents of the mimic rock-pool to a 

 process of ' putting things to rights,' as the ladies 

 say when about doing a kindness, oh, horror! to 

 our books and papers. 



It happened on a certain occasion that my 

 aquarium was in an unsatisfactory condition. A 

 nasty vapour arose from the base, and diffused itself 

 over nearly the entire vessel. My fishes disliking 

 their usual haunts, were all spread out at full length 

 high and dry upon a ledge of rock work,- project- 

 ing above the surface of the water. The little 

 Soldier-Crab had managed to drag his body and 

 heavy tail piece up the brae, hoping to breathe the 

 fresh air in safety. His big brother was not so suc- 

 cessful, and despite his efforts speedily came to grief. 

 Finding he could not drag his carriage up the rock, he 

 stepped out of the lumbering vehicle. His appearance 

 soon became woe-begone in the extreme. In a few 

 minutes he expired. The buckies, too, with singular 

 instinct, had collected in a row along the dry ledge 

 of the tank. 



Upon counting the numbers of my little colony, I 

 found all right excepting 0. Mcenas; him I could not 

 discover, and I soon began to suspect that he was 

 defunct. No time, therefore, was to be lost, so a dili- 

 gent search for his remains was instantly commenced, 



