20 



THE FAMILY AQUARIUM. 



by expectorating the whole of their intestines, leaving 

 their empty shells behind. Some of the latter, under like 

 circumstances, suddenly explode themselves into frag- 

 ments, as though filled with gunpowder, and touched off 

 by electricity. For rakes, we have the Limpit and the 

 W ater Beetle, who, if permitted, will abandon the Aqua- 

 ria every night to go on a spree,^^ returning, like other 

 licentious ones, early in the morning. For beauties, we 

 have the Sea Mouse, clothed in silken hair, and glittering 

 in all the iridescent colors of the butterfly ; we have the 

 Sea Slug, covered with gem-like specks, that may well 

 pass muster for sapphires and emeralds ; and we have the 

 Minnow, the dandy of his tribe, with his vest of roses and 

 his coat of olive green. For Jeremy Diddlers we have 

 the Hermit Crab, who pilfers a whelk-shell for his resi- 

 dence ; we have the Nereis, who attaches himself, perdu^ 

 to the Crab^s doorway, and gormandizes on all the food 

 he can seize as it enters ; and we have the Cloak Anemone, 

 which insidiously mantles the two, and then devours all 

 it can abstract from the mouth of both. To this cate- 

 gory we might add the Phyllodoce, who turn themselves 

 inside out, like a stocking, and when the inverted stomach 

 fills with passing pabulum, restores his sated organ to its 

 original position. The comic actors on this stage of life 

 are too multitudinous for detail. The Climbing Frog and 

 Climbing Crab are gymnasts of the first order ; the Eed- 

 nose carries a natural syringe, with which he squirts water 

 upon all who inconvenience him ; the Pipefish uses his 



