THE LIVING WORLD. 
56 
codfish. It is parasitic, and may be regarded as the type of what, in the life 
of fishes, is similar to the annoyances caused in higher animal life by parasitic 
insects. Some species devote themselves to the whale, others to the dogfish, 
and others yet to various representatives of the finny tribe. 
The Toulouson Black Crab, or Jamaica Violet Crab (Gecarcinus ruricola ), 
burrows from one to three miles from the shore, not being a true marine animal, 
but going seaward solely with the intention of depositing its eggs. It selects 
the last month of the old year and the first month of the new year, and at this 
time is a rare dish for the table. It hibernates in the summer, 
which is a more emphatic way of stating that it aestivates. During 
July and August it again rivals the dainty dish which was set 
before a king. It is an agile creature, and capable of inflicting 
punishment after death—its death; for some time its broken claw 
will continue to pinch with all the energy of a living being. It 
is a table delicacy, esteemed the more, possibly, because rare. 
It is found in the West Indies and is not aquatic. 
The One-Eyed Louse, and One-Eyed Sailor, are species 
which may well excite the wonder of even those who profess 
familiarity with the many curiosities of animal life. The techni¬ 
cal name, Cyclops , is appropriately applied, derivable from the 
{Cyciop^corUhoc^ P°P u ^ ar superstition, which so generally obtained during the 
poides .) early ages, that on the coast of Sicily dwelt a human mon¬ 
ster having but a single eye, which was situated in the centre 
of his forehead. The exposure of this myth led to the belief that though 
there were creatures in the insect world provided with many eyes, yet there 
were none whose vision was limited to a single eye. 
This belief was, however, like that concerning the 
fabled Cyclops, destroyed by the discovery of the two 
crabs above described, and so numerous have been 
the exposures of preconceived ideas during the past 
fifty years, revealing so many marvellous surprises 
in animal life, that even the wildest exaggerations 
of mythology and fable are shown to be exceeded 
by existent creatures. In this fact we observe new 
proofs of the well established theory of the perpetual 
change and progression of species. 
In the illustrations afforded by the Living World will be found evidences 
not only confirmatory of this theory, but instances in which we may perceive 
the successive steps of development. The succeeding chapter presents species 
wherein will be found the natural ascending series, manifesting a well defined 
and sequential progression always towards higher orders of life. 
ONE-EYED SAIEOR. 
(.Nauplius cyclops). 
