Marvels of the Universe 



485 



to the feast when the bark is broken. The horns on the head of the male are also said to be used 

 in fighting his adversaries. 



Dr. Bennet states (in the Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 1899) from 

 his owTi obser^-ation of one of these insects in Bululand, West Africa, that, while soaring around a 

 vine hanging from an immense tree, it gave forth " a sound not unlike that of steam emerging from 

 a small safety-valve." He cdso states, its " large wings glitter and scintillate with a most beautiful 

 greenish lustre." Its movements were described as being so rapid that it was only the " strange 

 soujid " that first arrested attention. 



These huge beetles are chocolate in colour, marked with creamy-white, and have a surface soft 

 as velvet ; but their remarkable appearance and giant size are a menace to their species, as they 

 are eagerly sought for by collectors, and their rdtimate extermination from this cause is a possibility. 

 In addition, they are used by the natives as ingredients for soups and fricassees. 



THE GNOME-CRAB 



BY EDW.-\RD STEP, F.L.S. 



Among the numerous varieties of form to be found among Crabs, the family represented by our 

 photograph is singular in the fact that its members are almost globular, and, therefore, look very 

 uncrabHke. Unfortunately, the species figured has no English name. Perhaps the name of Gnome- 



/-to(o6oj IE. glfp, F.L.S. 



THE GNOME CRAB. 



The Gnome belongs to a family of Crabs tfiat are peculiar for their globular form, and is remarkable besides for his thick 

 coat of short hair. like shabby velvet : so that when he tucks in his claws he looks much like a dark pebble. He further hides 

 his^identity under a sponge attached by means of a special pair of nippers to his back. (Natural size.) 



