CRUSTACEA. 519 



which must very much assist the hold of this species of Fagitnts, 

 were visible without the aid of a glass. 



During feeding-time the hermit crab throws out his head and feet, 

 and especially his great claws, and feels his way with his two antennae, 

 which are long and slender. When he walks he hooks on with his 

 pincers to the nearest body, and draws his shell after him, as the 

 snail does his. But the undefended parts of the body always remain 

 under cover. At low water the hermit crabs spread themselves over 

 the rocky shore, and the spectator thinks he sees a great number of 

 shells which move in all directions, with movements different from 

 that which belong to their essentially slow and measured race. If 

 they are touched they stop suddenly, and it is soon discovered that 

 their shell is the dwelling of a crustacean, not a mollusc. The 

 animal lives alone in its little citadel, like the hermit in his cell or 

 the sentinel in his box. Hence the names of hcrwit and soldier. 



When our crustacean outsrows its borrowed habitation, it sets 

 out in search of another shell a little larger and better suited for 

 its increased size. 



The hermit often avails itself, as we have said, of empty shells 

 abandoned by their owners ; when the tide retires these seldom fail 

 them, and the hermit crab may be seen examining, turning, and re- 

 turning, and even trying its new domicile. It glides slowly along on 

 its abdomen, which is large and somewhat distorted, sometimes in 

 one shell, sometimes in another, looking defiantly all round it, and 

 returning very quickly to its ancient lodging if the new one does not 

 turn out to be perfectly comfortable, often trying a great number, as a 

 man might try many new suits of clothes before fitting himself In its 

 successive removals the little sybarite chooses a hermitage more and 

 more spacious, according to its taste or caprice in colour or architec- 

 ture. The cunning little creature chooses its mansion, now grey or 

 yellow, now red or brown, globular or cylindrical, in the form of a 

 spiral or of a tun, toothed or crenulate, with trenchant edge or pointed 

 terminations ; but, as a rule, our crustacean Diogenes houses itself in 

 shells with spirals of considerable length, as in Cerithiiwi, Buccinum, 

 or Afiirex. 



The hermit crab is very timid ; at the least noise it shrinks into 

 its shell, and squats itself down, without motion, drawing in its 

 smaller claws and closing the door with its large one, the latter being 

 often covered with hairs, tubercles, or with teeth. In short, our 

 prudent cenobite clings so closely to the bottom of its retreat, that 

 we might pull it to pieces without getting it out entire ; its tail is 

 transformed into a sort of sucker, by the aid of which it attaches 



