6678 



Crustacea. 



Talitrus and its allied genus Orchestia : these respire air, and we 

 may presume that has something to do with the circumstance. 



That these animals have the power of hearing, we think there is 

 abundant evidence. It is told by Mr. Bell that at the report of a 

 cannon they throw off their limbs; and in the same book we read 

 that whole cargoes of lobsters have thrown off their limbs in a thun- 

 derstorm, to the great detriment of their marketable value; and we 

 are informed that the following pleasant instance of maternal affection 

 has been observed, which also illustrates the faculty of hearing : — 

 One day, upon the coast of Cornwall, a fisherman, going the round of 

 his crab-pots, saw a number of young lobsters swarming together. 

 He watched them for some time before he attracted the notice of an 

 old one lodged in a corner of a rock. This, from its post of security, 

 kept guard over the young ones at play ; and as soon as it perceived 

 there was danger near, rattled its claws together, and they all fled to 

 their holes. We know from observation in other species, and we see 

 no reason to imagine it different in the lobster, that the young are 

 torn out of the egg-cases in a very crude manner. The waves and 

 the winds carry them far beyond the protecting reach of the parent. 

 The number that are hatched would defy the most anxious mother to 

 watch. The youngest are not mature when the oldest quit the egg, 

 and I doubt if two or more weeks may not elapse between the free- 

 dom of the first aud the hatching of the last. As I before stated, the 

 spawn of a moderate-sized edible crab consists of about two millions 

 of eggs. The manner by which I arrived at this conclusion was as 

 follows : — I tore off about three hundred and weighed them, and then 

 weighed the whole mass ; and, after deducting the appendages which 

 held the spawn in its position, I found, as near as possible, that there 

 could not be less than two millions of eggs. We perceive, then, that 

 in the foregoing anecdote the parent watching over the welfare of the 

 voung can scarcely be correct. But this, we think, is no reason why 

 the statement of the fisherman of Goran Haven may not be true. 

 Lobsters are known to be very gregarious, and seldom ramble far 

 from their favourite hnnting-ground. 



We know the instinct of more familiar animals that live together 

 will induce them to set a sentinel to watch, and give notice of 

 approaching danger. The starling and lark among birds, and the 

 wild horse among animals, are ready instances. We would therefore 

 interpret the anecdote of the lobster by our knowledge of instances of 

 instinct among these. And the fact stated, that those which played 

 around the old one were young, corresponds with the history of other 



