INTRODUCTION. Ill 



the grass in muddy places near the sea. The Ocypode ceratophthalma and other species are 

 collected by the poorer classes as food ; they dig thern out of their deep sandy burrows with 

 great eagerness and diligence, by means simply of their hands. I have seen the natives 

 sometimes drive them out by insinuating a long pliant twig into the aperture, and have 

 known them also pour water into the hole and so force its occupant to appear ; by minutely 

 examining the foot-prints near the burrow, they are able to say with certainty whether it is 

 vacated or occupied by an Ocypode. On the flat sandy beaches of this group, if the stones 

 which the tide has left dry are turned over, hundreds of Porcellana are perceived shuffling 

 along, with their bodies closely applied to the under surface of the stones, seeking protection 

 by quickly gliding to the opposite side. Our species, P.pidchripes, is active and bustling 

 in its habits, but another new species (P. versimand), found among the coral-reefs of 

 Koo-kien-san, is apathetic and indolent, and the P. obesula, A. and W., which was dredged 

 from twenty-four fathoms in the Sooloo Sea, was very sluggish in its movements. The 

 Elamena wiguiformis of De Haan was found here also ; slow in its movements, it lurks 

 concealed in holes of the under surface of stones below high-water mark. A species of 

 Calappa, allied to C. spinosissima, is found in the shallow bays, which covers itself with sand, 

 and when captured feigns death, folding the fore-legs close against the front and retracting 

 the hind-legs under the carapace. All the species of Calappa that I have seen alive are 

 timid and slow-moving. A species of Alpheus, probably new, inhabits pools under stones 

 on the sandy beaches, and when disturbed makes a loud clicking noise by snapping together 

 the claws of the fore-legs ; and in the padi-fields, a Gecarcinus, allied to G. lateralis, is very 

 common, running about in all directions, feeding on the larvae of Libellulidce and other 

 insects. 



The Paguridce, or Pirate-Crabs, are very numerous throughout the shores of the Indian 

 Islands, taking refuge, some in the prostrate bodies of decayed trees that usually lie upon 

 the strand, some among the loose stones and in the dead leaves and underwood, and some 

 even penetrating the verge of the forest and ascending the trees that border upon the sea. 

 These are almost entirely terrestrial ; some, however, are quite littoral in their habits, while 

 others again live at great depths. We obtained one species of Pagurus off the Cape of Good 

 Hope, living in 230 fathoms water, which was remarkable for having fabricated a dwelling in 

 the form of a univalve turbinated shell out of the dead Ancillarice which abound there, and 

 which are covered with masses of alcyonoid sponge. In the Bashee Group, numerous fine 



