448 THE TOULOUROU BLACK-GRAB, OR VIOLET-CRAB. 



at rest, the footstalks lie horizontally upon the body, and are received into two channels or 

 grooves, where they lie hidden and safe from danger. 



A somewhat similar disposition is found in some of the land-crabs, but differing in the 

 arrangement of the footstalks. Each of these curious organs consists of two i>ieces, and in the 

 Sentinel-crab the first is long and the second very short, while in the land-crab exactly 

 the reverse takes place, the length of the footstalk depending on the second joint. Only one 

 species of Sentinel-crab is at present known, and is a native of the Indian Ocean. It never 

 attains very great size, its length varying from two to four inches. 



We now leave the swimming and marine crabs, and turn to those winch are able to spend 

 a great part of their existence out of the water. The Flattened Mud-crab belongs to a 

 tolerably numerous genus of crabs, which live along the banks of rivers or in damp forests, 

 and are evidently a link between the aquatic and the true land-crabs. The Tiielphusa lives 

 in burrows, which it excavates in the mud to a considerable depth, and gives the fisherman no 

 small trouble before it can be dug out. 



One species of this genus, the Graxcio of the Italians, is very common around Rome, 

 and is largely captured for sale in the markets, as its flesh is very delicate, and in great 

 request on the fast days of the church. It is dug out of the mud and kept alive for sale, as it 

 can endure removal from the water for a very long time, sometimes living a month upon dry 

 land, the only precaution needful being that it should be kept in a damp spot, such as a cellar. 

 It is a most useful species, as it can be eaten throughout the entire year, but is thought to be 

 in best condition during and immediately after the moult. There are many ways of dressing 

 this delicacy, some persons killing it by long immersion in milk, and others asserting that its 

 flesh has more flavor if eaten raw, like that of the oyster. In the market these crabs are tied 

 to strings, but always at such lengths that they cannot reach each other, or if they should 

 do so they would of a certainty attack and maim their nearest neighbors. 



The Lake of Albano is a very favorite resort of these crabs, which absolutely swarm in 

 its soft muddy bed. On the first view, the Mud-crab looks very like the common green 

 crab of the sea-shore, but can be distinguished by its color, which is of a whitish or livid 

 hue. It runs about with great speed, and when it fears the approach of an enemy, hurries 

 into the water, burrows under the mud, or hides itself beneath a friendly stone. Should, 

 however, its retreat be cut oil', it proves that it can fight as well as run, and grips with such 

 force, that it makes the blood flow before it can be shaken off. During the winter it dives 

 deeply into the mud, and there remains hidden, until the warmth of spring induces it to 

 leave its retreat. 



Another family of land-crabs is well represented by the Toulourotj Black-crab, or 

 Violet-crab of Jamaica (Gecarcinus ruricola). 



This singular creature is found in vast numbers, and for the most part lives in burrows at 

 least a mile from the shore, and sometimes at a distance of two or even three miles, seldom, 

 indeed, visiting the sea but for the purpose of depositing its eggs. About the months of 

 December and January the eggs begin to form, and the crab is then fat, delicate, and in good 

 condition for the table. In May, however, it is quite poor and without flavor, and does not 

 recover its proper condition until it has visited the sea, deposited the eggs, and returned to its 

 home. About July or August the Violet Crab is again fat and in full flesh, having, in fact, 

 laid in a stock of fat which will afford it sufficient nourishment through the time in which it 

 remains in a torpid state. It retires to the bottom of its burrow, into which it has previously 

 conveyed a large amount of grass, leaves, and similar materials, closes the entrance, and there 

 remains until the next year. 



It is a very quick and active 1 creature, scuttling off to its hole with astonishing rapidity, 

 and is not to lie captured without the exercise of considerable skill and quickness. Nor must 

 it lie handled without caution, for as it runs, it holds up its claws ready to bite, and if it 

 succeeds in grasping its foe, it quickly throws off the limb — which continues to gripe 

 and pinch as sharply as if still attached to its former owner — and makes good its escape 



