GREAT CRAB. 61 



the different kinds of " cancer" says, " Cancrorum genera 

 carabi, astaci, maia?, paguri, heracleotici, icones et alia ig- 

 nobiliora." It would appear by this passage that the term 

 Cancer was applied to the whole of the Malacostracous 

 Crustacea ; for not only are the brachyura and some of 

 the larger macroura evidently here designated, but the 

 " alia ignobiliora," in all probability, indicated all the 

 smaller and less important forms. 



The habits of this species have been perhaps more 

 thoroughly investigated, and are better understood than 

 those of most other species. Its large size, and the ex- 

 cellence of its flavour, occasion it to be more sought after 

 as an article of food than any other of the brachyurous 

 species ; and hence its habits and the places of its resort 

 have been necessarily much observed by those whose occu- 

 pation it is to procure it for the market ; whilst the natu- 

 ralist has found it a convenient species for his more scien- 

 tific investigations, whether as it regards its history or its 

 structure. 



It inhabits the whole of our coasts, preferring those parts 

 which are rocky ; and its usual retreats are amongst the 

 holes in the rocks, where it generally retires when not 

 engaged in seeking its food. It is often seen in such 

 situations, even when the tide has retreated sufficiently to 

 render the rocks accessible, as, for instance, among those 

 on the shore at Hastings, where I have often seen them 

 in the pools and caverns, left by the receding tide. These 

 are, however, always small individuals, rarely more than 

 three inches in breadth ; the larger ones remain farther at 

 sea amongst the rocks in deep water ; and they also bury 

 themselves in the sand, but always in the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of the rocks. The food of this species, like that 

 of most others, consists principally of animal matter, such 



