EUPAGURTIS. 559 



animal is resting. The fact that Anomia is found quite 

 far back in the shell, and that various small animals 

 live in the last whorls of it, shows that the water must 

 be fairly fresh. 



It is not known how the faeces are disposed of. 

 Possibly there is not enough waste matter to cause any 

 serious nuisance, and the small Amphipods in the shell 

 might conceivably remove some of its objectionable 

 features. 



Dr. Gray* long ago made the curious observation 

 that hermit crabs have the power of dissolving the 

 shells in which they live. He says that the lip and 

 pillar on the inside of the mouth is often destroyed in 

 the shells inhabited by this animal. It seems more 

 probable that a partiality for old shells on the part of 

 the crustacean, or a local scarcity of suitable shells, 

 accounts for the fact. It is very unlikely that any 

 " faculty for dissolving shells " is possessed by the 

 hermit crab. The roughening of the internal surface 

 he remarks on is caused by the scraping of the uropods 

 and pereiopods. 



Its Food. 



The Hermit Crab is an omnivorous feeder. In its 

 early youth it follows the cannibalistic instincts of other 

 Zoeas, but the adult seems to be purely a scavenger. It 

 will accept almost any animal or vegetable food. The 

 left chela is almost invariably used for carrying the food 

 to the foot- jaws and it also aids them in tearing the 

 morsels to suitable shreds. It may be observed very 

 frequently tossing sand with the same appendage between 

 the mouth parts, and letting the grains drop as it rubs 



* Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 3, vol. 2, p. 164, 1858. 

 LL 



