712 HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



reported by a naturalist that he has counted twelve thousand 

 four hundred and forty-four eggs under the tail of a single 

 female lobster, who had probably a great many more still in 

 her body, not yet ready for protrusion. When they shed their 

 shell, they also shed their stomach and intestines, and are said 

 to eat the old ones which are replaced by new. This is a fur- 

 ther proof of the place this animal holds in the scale of being, 

 and of the rudimentary character of its functions. 



Upon the bottom of the water the lobster runs upon its legs, 

 or small claws, with considerable rapidity. In swimming, it 

 uses its tail, which it also uses to jump with when alarmed. 

 This it does by shutting its tail with such force, that it is re- 

 ported they will leap, tail first, a distance of thirty feet, and in 

 the same way jump from the rocks upon which they may be 

 feeding, to the holes in which they secrete themselves with sur- 

 prising accuracy. 



Another specimen of shell fish which is curious for its habits 

 is the hermit crab. This animal has a shell only upon its 

 claws, and to protect itself, as the rest of its body is exposed, 

 it seeks about on the bottom of the sea until it finds some 

 deserted shell it can impress into its service. With these crabs 

 as with men, who depend upon having houses furnished them 

 by others, instead of building them each for himself, there are 

 at times more tenants than houses, and at such times the ques- 

 tion of occupancy has to be settled by force. The combat 

 rages with great fury ; the combatants strike each other and 

 bite with their claws, until the weakest gives up the contest 

 defeated, and retires to find another empty shell. 



Since the shells thus taken possession of by the hermit crabs 

 do not grow in size with the natural increase of their inhabi- 

 tant, as the shells of shell-fish do naturally, the successful 

 capturer of a shell cannot congratulate himself with the assur- 

 ance that ne has provided himself with a permanent shelter for 

 his old age. Therefore when, from his increased size, the her- 



