244 STRANGE DWELLINGS, 



the tube on the least alarm, and contracting the orifice after it 

 has retired into seclusion. 



Should the reader happen to be an entomologist, he will 

 readily call to mind the tiny cylindrical cases that are made 

 by certain lepidopteran larvae, belonging to the great family 

 Tineidse, and which are found so plentifully upon the leaves of 

 oak, hazel, and other trees. If he should happen to be some- 

 thing of an aquarian naturalist, and fond of looking for marine 

 curiosities, he may find attached to submarine plants, certain 

 little cylindrical cases which are wonderfully like those of the 

 moths. They are very small indeed, scarcely thicker than the 

 shaft of an ordinary pin, and measuring scarcely more than the 

 eighth of an inch in length. Their colour is pale brown, their 

 surface is rough, and they are stuck upon the seaweed in great 

 confusion, without the least attempt at arrangement. 



These are the habitations of a very small crustacean {Cerapus 

 tubularis), popularly called the Caddis Shrimp, because the tube 

 which the creature makes is analogous to that which is formed 

 by the caddis larvae. The animal which inhabits this case is a 

 curious little being, very like the long-bodied, long-legged, 

 caprellae, that are so plentiful among seaweeds, and furnished 

 with two pairs of long and stout antennae, and two pairs of 

 grasping feet. As the tube is too short to contain the entire 

 animal, the long antennae are always protruded, and occasionally 

 the powerful grasping feet are also thrust out of the opening. 



The antennae are continually flung forward and retracted in a 

 manner that reminds the observer of the movements of the acorn 

 barnacle, each grasp being evidently made for the purpose of 

 arresting any passing substance that may serve for food. This 

 remarkable little crustacean is generally found upon the well- 

 known alga which produces the Carrageen, or Irish moss 

 (Chondrus crispus). It will not, however, be found upon those 

 plants which can be plucked by hand, but resides in deeper 

 water, so that the best method of procuring it is to go out in a 

 boat, throw the drag overboard, and then examine the algae 

 which are torn from their attachments. 



1 



