180 THE HERMIT AND THE CRASS. 



Yery fine sea-anemones {B, Grassicornis), and I 

 thought that, probably, by their aid, Mr. Hermit 

 might be enticed out of his shell, even if he would 

 not be dragged out. So I popped the hermit 

 among the wide-expanded tentacles of the crass, 

 which immediately began to contract. The hermit 

 was evidently acquainted with his danger, and, in 

 his hurry to escape from the adhesive tentacles 

 that were twining about him, loosened his hold of 

 the shell, and was instantly plucked out. I let 

 him walk about for a while in the pool, where he 

 looked very woe-begone, trailing his defenceless 

 tail behind him as if he were ashamed of it. 

 After a while I dropped a damaged Purpura shell 

 into the pool, and the crab at once went up to it, 

 and, after a very short examination, stuck the end 

 of his tail into it, for it was not large enough to 

 accommodate the entire tail, and walked about as 

 before. At last, I put the original habitation into 

 the pool, to the very great delight of the hermit, 

 who exchanged shells with a marvellous rapidity, 

 and seemed so much at home again that I could 

 not think of disturbing him. I have frequently 

 tried the same plan of enticing the hermits out of 

 their shells, and never found it to fail. 



The combative propensities of these creatures 

 are quite wonderful for their development. If 



