348 



that's it; 



they are said to be highly pug- 

 nacious. The following account 

 of them, given by George Henry 

 Lewes, in his " Sea Side Studies/' 

 is well worth perusal : — 



" You doubtless know the hermit crab, 

 P'tgnrus ? Unlike other crabs, who are content 

 to live in their own shells, pagurus lives in the 

 empty shell of some mollusc. He looks fiercely 

 upon the world from out this apparently in- 

 convenient tub, the Diogenes of Crustacea, and 

 wears an expression of conscious yet defiant 

 theft, as if he knew the rightful owner of the 

 shell, or his relatives, were coming every 

 moment to recover it, and he, for his part, 

 very much wished they might get it! All the 

 fore part of pagurus, including his claws, is 

 defended by the solid armour of crabs. But 

 his hind parts are soft, covered only by a deli- 

 cate membrane, in which the anatomist, how- 

 ever, discovers shell-plates in a rudimentary 

 condition. Now a gentleman so extremely 

 pugnacious, troubled with so tender a back and 

 continuation, would fare ill in this combative 

 world, had he not some means of redressing 

 the wrong done to him at birth ; accordingly 

 he selects an empty shell of convenient size, 

 into which he pops his tender tail, fastening on 

 by the hooks on each side of his tail ; and 

 having thus secured his rear, he scuttles over 

 the sea bed, a grotesque but philosophical 

 marauder. 



" Very ludicrous was the scene which I wit- 

 nessed between two of these crabs taken from 

 their shells. Selecting them nearly equal in 

 size, I dropped them, ' naked as their mothers 

 bore them,' into a glass vase of sea water. 

 They did not seem comfortable, and carefully 

 avoided each other. I then placed one of the 

 empty shells (first breaking off its spiral point) 

 between them, and at once the contest com- 

 menced One made direct for the shell, poked 

 into it an inquiring claw, and having satisfied 

 his cautious mind that all was safe, slipped in 

 his tail with iudicrous agility, and, fastening on 

 by his hooks, scuttled away rejoicing. He was 

 not left long in undisturbed possession. His 

 rival approached with strictly dishonourable 

 intentions; and they both walked round and 

 round the vase, eyeing each other with settled 

 malignity." 



Mr. Lewes then goes on to 

 describe how the hermits con- 

 tested for the possession of the 

 shell ; and again for the better 

 of two shells, when such were 

 presented to them. And in the 

 following manner he showed that 

 hermit crabs do not, as has been 

 hitherto supposed, devour whelks 

 before taking forcible possession 

 of their tenements. Having 



placed a shell containing a living 

 whelk in the vase — 



" The hermit crab at once clutched it. and 

 poked in his interrogatory claw, which, touch- 

 ing the operculum of the whelk, made that 

 animal withdraw, and leave an empty space, 

 into which the crab popped his tail. In a lew 

 minutes the whelk, tired of this confinement in 

 his own ho.Ui>e, and all alarm being over, began 

 to protrude himself, and in doing so gently 

 pushed the hermit before him. In vain did the 

 intruder, feeling himself slipping, cling fiercely 

 to the shell ; with slow, but irresistible pres- 

 sure, the mollusc ejected him. This was re- 

 peated several times, till at length the hermit 

 gave up in despair, and contented himself with 

 his former shell." 



So, it is consoling to think that 

 the hermit crab takes possession 

 only of empty tenements, legi- 

 timately " to be let," and does 

 not eject and devour the rightful 

 owners ! 



We will turn from the hermit 

 crab to another curious creature, 

 found attached to rocks, and 

 which is softer *than the hermit's 

 tail, having no protection what- 

 ever save its own membranaceous 

 coit : the sea anemone, 12, or 

 actinia. 



1160. 



These are the curious creatures 

 that were once thought to form 

 the link between the animal and 

 vegetable kingdoms. Because 

 they were found attached to 

 rocks, it was contended that they 

 derived nourishment by a system 

 of roots ; and because they put 

 forth long and slender arms, it 

 was contended that they had 

 branches analogous to those of a 



