THE CRAFTY HERMIT-GRAB. 450 



Even when the crabs are suited with homes, their combats are fierce, deadly, and active, 

 in spite of the heavy shell which they drag behind them, and which seems to incommode them 

 no more than the hundredweight of steel inconvenienced an ancient knight. They spar with 

 great address, guarding the only vulnerable point with the large claw, and threatening the 

 adversary at the same time with that weapon. At last one of them makes a dash, the pair 

 grapple, the weaker is gradually overcome, the stronger pushes his claw into the failing- 

 adversary's shell, crushes his unprotected breast, draws him dying out of his shell, picks him 

 to pieces and eats him. 



To see a Hermit-crab fitting itself with a new shell is a very ludicrous sight. The creature 

 takes the shell among its feet, twirls it about with wonderful rapidity, balances it as if to try 

 its weight, probes it with the long antennse, and perhaps throws it away. Sometimes, how- 

 ever, when the preliminary investigations have proved satisfactory, it twists the shell round 

 until the tail falls into the opening, and then parades up and down for a little while. Perhaps 

 it may be satisfied, and after twirling the shell about several times, whisks into it with such 

 speed that the eye can scarcely follow its movements. Indeed, it seems rather to be shot into 

 the shell from some engine of propulsion than to move voluntarily into the new habitation. 

 When the number of empty shells is great, the Hermit is very fastidious, and will spend many 

 hours in settling into a new house. 



A Hermit-crab when deprived of its shell presents a most absurd appearance. It is dread- 

 fully frightened, crawls about with a terrified kind of air like that which is put on by a beaten 

 dog, and will put up with anything by way of a house. I have seen a very large whelk-shell 

 inhabited by a very little crab, so small and weak that it con Id not drag its huge home about, 

 and was tumbled backwards and forwards as the waves washed over the shell. It was much 

 too small to fix itself in the mouth of the whelk-shell, as is the usual custom of Hermit-crabs, 

 and had been forced to content itself with a hole that had been broken near the point. 



This crab may be kept in an aquarium, as it is hardy, and can be fed with perfect ease. 

 It is. moreover, less liable to fight with and kill its companions than the other crabs, probably 

 on account of the shell, which protects the body, and renders a battle a very laborious under- 

 taking. So that if two or three Hermits of similar dimensions are put into an aquarium, they 

 will live on terms of armed neutrality, and if care be taken to feed them separately, they will 

 survive for a long time. It is rather remarkable that when they become sickly, they are sure 

 to leave their shells and lie listlessly on the stones or sea -weed. As soon as one of them is seen 

 to act in this manner, it should be at once removed. 



There is a curious notion prevalent respecting the Hermit-crabs. All the fishermen, and 

 the sea-side population in general, firmly believe that the Hermit-crab is the young of the lob- 

 ster, and that when it becomes large enough to protect itself, it leaves the shell, gets a hard 

 tail, and changes into a real lobster. Any one who wishes to studv the structure of the Hermit- 

 crab can do so by visiting a fishmonger's shop, and looking over the stock of periwinkles, many 

 of which are sure to be occupied by a Hermit-crab instead of a mollusk. 



There are very many species of Hermit-crabs, those of the tropics being the largest and 

 handsomest. Some of these larger species inhabit the trumpet-shell, some are found in the 

 large turbos, and are handsome creatures, richly mottled with black and brown, and there are 

 one or two species which live in the cone shells. These curious Hermits are shaped so as to 

 suit the shell in which they reside, their bodies being quite flat and almost leaf-like, so as to 

 enable them to pass freely into and out of the long narrow mouth of the shell. The Crafty 

 Hermit-crab is found in the Mediterranean, and among other shells which it inhabits, the 

 variegeted triton is known to be a favorite. 



The Hermit-crabs are among the most interesting of the crustaceans. The singular 

 habit of adopting cast-off domiciles of other creatures is quite unique. The structure of 

 the Crafty Hermit is very closely like, if not the same as that of the great Hermit of the 

 Florida waters. These crabs select the shells found most suitable around them. The Horse 

 Conch (Strombus gigas) is the favorite in the above locality ; although we have seen them 

 in Triton, which is not so abundant. One is often met with so large as to fill the largest 

 Horse Conch, nearly one foot in lenc-th. This is an interesting feature of this animal ; 



