168 THE OCEAN. 
Several species of minute Crabs and Shrimps 
occur also in great numbers, and constitute no small 
portion of the food of the Whale. One little crea- 
ture, in particular (Cancer nugaz), was found to 
swarm even beneath the ice, in the temporary so- 
journ of the discovery expeditions in winter quar- 
ters. The men had often noticed the shrinking of 
their salt meat which had been put to soak; and 
a goose that had been frozen, on being immersed to 
thaw, was, in the lapse of forty-eight hours, reduced 
to a perfect skeleton. The officers afterwards availed 
themselves of the services of these industrious little 
anatomists, to obtain cleaned skeletons of such small 
animals as they procured, merely taking the pre- 
caution of tying the specimen in a loose bag of 
gauze or netting, for the preservation of any of the 
smaller bones that might be separated by the con- 
sumption of the ligaments, . 
