346 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



There is indeed something irresistibly comical in the 

 imperturbable demeanour of these hard-visaged ma- 

 rauders nothing can make them laugh no amount 

 of mischief done, or agony inflicted, for a moment 

 alters the grim, stolid countenance with which they 



sit, 



" Chattering their iron teeth, and staring wide 

 With stony eyes," 



amid the havoc they have caused. A monkey in a 

 lady's boudoir, or a bull in a china-shop, could 

 scarcely prove less eligible inmates than these scram- 

 bling tyrants of the well-stored tank. Let the aqua- 

 riist, therefore, keep them carefully aloof from any 

 specimens of damageable nature. Nevertheless, the 

 study of their habits is by no means devoid of interest ; 

 and, under proper treatment, even these creatures 

 have been looked upon as pets, and regarded as " little 

 dumb companions, having always something to 

 impart/' 



One of the most remarkable phenomena connected 

 with the history of these Crustaceans is the periodical 

 exuviation or change of shell to which they are 

 subject, a change, the necessity for which must be 

 obvious when we consider the dense, unyielding nature 

 of the stony armour in which their bodies are encased . 

 That they must get rid of their old suit of mail when 

 it becomes too small for their increasing size is evident 

 enough ; but how this is to be accomplished is a 

 problem, the solution of which presents so many 

 difficulties, apparently insurmountable by any natural 

 process, that nothing short of actual observation would 

 warrant a belief in its being able to achieve a feat 



