166 LIFE AND HER CHILDREN. 
ing with them antennae and eye-stalks, legs and ieet, 
as perfect as before, and having even their tiny spines 
and hairs upon them ; then with a sudden jerk he 
pulls out his abdomen and leaves his clear transparent 
shell so perfect with the coverings of the eyes, anten- 
nae, legs, hairs, and spines, nay, even with the lining 
of his stomach and digestive tube, that you might 
believe the real prawn still stood upon the rock. 
But no ! the creature himself is rolling helplessly 
over, his soft body being scarcely able to keep itself 
in position, and if any animal were to seize him now 
his death-hour would have arrived. He knows this 
well and soon begins to strike out his abdomen and 
work his swimmerets which are gradually stiffening 
and strengthening, and so manages to swim or creep 
into some sheltered nook, where his inner coat, which 
has long been forming, hardens, and he is a valiant 
prawn again. 
He is now quite clean and bright and beautiful, 
and he loves to remain so, and is most particular 
about his toilet, in fact the prawn is one of the few 
Crustacea which has been seen to brush himself up 
with great care, though probably many others do it. 
We have noticed that his strongest claws are not 
on the front pair of feet as in the crab and lobster, 
but on the second pair. The front claws are fine 
and delicate, and carry little brushes on. their tips; 
and the prawn has been seen standing on his four 
hinder pair of legs with his tail tucked under him, 
and using his front pair to brush his swimmerets, 
afterwards passing them through his foot -jaws to 
clear the dirt off the brushes ! * 
* The little broad-claw crab cleans himself with the hind pair of 
feet instead of the front ones. 
