264 SOMETHING ABOUT CRABS. 
claw. I carefully put the helpless creature into the hole 
again. 
“What then are we to infer from this association? Do the 
common crabs live in pairs? And does one keep guard at 
the mouth of the cavern while its consort is undergoing its 
change of skin? If this is the case it is a pretty trait of 
cancrine sagacity, and one not unworthy of their acute in- 
stinct and sagacity in other respects. I have no doubt that 
the claw of its mate was unintentionally torn off in its efforts 
to grasp some hold when resisting my tugs in dragging him 
See, then, the beautiful parallel—the simple remark of 
the illiterate observer, and the learned queries of the prac- 
tised naturalist. 
Not a little interest have we felt in an individual known to 
us as the “Sea Spider,” or "Spider Crab." Wishing to make 
a good introduction for our friend, and as some who have no 
desire to know Mrs. John Smith might perhaps feel flattered 
if presented to the lady of Johannes Smythius, Esq., so we 
would say, that by Spider Crab, we mean no less a person- 
age than Libinia canaliculata. She is regarded by some 
as a pest on the oyster beds, and is accused of eating the 
oyster spat or young. How much truth there may be in 
this is to us unknown. At any rate we have never seen the 
slightest evidence to sustain the charge. We have regarded 
her appetencies as omnivorous. But, as our acquaintance 
has been chiefly in the drawing-room, it may be that there 
her tastes became fastidious. One peculiarity of habit is all 
that we have time to describe. The Spider Crab will grow . 
as large as one’s hand. A pet that we had a long time 
was only an inch wide across the shell. We must tell the 
truth, and say that her aspect was not the most tidy or eve? 
cleanly. Her back looked much as if she had taken a glue 
bath, and then, like a chicken, a dust bath afterwards. 
Through this agglutinous coat sundry small sharp spines 
appear. She does not covet society, and so withdraws t° 



