314 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 



CARCINUS M^NAS " THE SHORE 



" There is no danger to profound these mysteries no sanctum 

 sanctorum in philosophy ; the world was made to be inhabited 

 by beasts, but studied and contemplated by man : 'tis the debt 

 of our reason we owe unto God, and the homage we pay for not 

 being beasts : without this the world is still as though it had 

 not been, or as it was before the sixth day, when as yet there 

 was not a creature that could conceive or say there was a world. 

 The wisdom of God receives small honour from those vulgar 

 heads that rudely stare about, and with a gross rusticity admire 

 his works : those highly magnify him, whose judicious enquiry 

 into his acts, and deliberate research into his creatures, return 

 the duty of a devout and learned observation." 



A SMALL green Crab, running actively over the 

 rocks and sands during the recess of the tide, cannot 

 have escaped the notice of visitors to the sea-beach ; 

 and as it is one, from its size and abundance, equally 

 convenient for experiment and observation, we shall 

 review its history at some length. 



The ShoreCrab(Pl. VII. fig. 4), like all its congeners, 

 is provided with ten limbs, viz. two claws and eight 

 locomotive legs. In all the tribe the claws differ from 

 the legs, being much larger and stronger. They have 

 several important parts fo perform : first in holding the 

 fdoo, tearing it asunder, and carrying it to the mouth ; 



