44 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE COMMON CRAYFISH. 
days, but none of them showed any signs of detaching 
themselves ; and I am inclined to think that they are 
set free only at the first moult. After this, it would 
appear that the adhesion to the parent is only temporary. 
The walking legs are also hooked at their extremities, 
but they play a less important part in fixing the young 
to the parent, and seem to be always capable of loosing 
their hold. 
I find the young of a Mexican crayfish (Cambarus) to be 
attached in the same manner as those of the English 
crayfish; but, according to Mr. Wood-Mason’s recent 
observations, the young of the New Zealand crayfishes 
fix themselves to the swimmerets of the parent by the 
hooked ends of their hinder ambulatory limbs. 
Crayfishes, in every respect similar to those found 
in our English rivers, that is to say, of the species 
Astacus fluviatilis, are met with in Ireland, and on the 
Continent, as far south as Italy and northern Greece ; 
as far east as western Russia; and as far north as the 
shores of the Baltic. They are not known to occur in 
Scotland; in Spain, except about Barcelona, they are 
either rare, or have remained unnoticed. 
There is, at present, no proof of the occurrence of 
Astacus fluviatilis in the fossil state. 
Curious myths have gathered about crayfishes, as 
about other animals. At one time “crabs’-eyes” were 
