Marvels of the Universe 983 
folded up at rest it is to all appearance just a boss of coral or coralline. Then the Yellow Crab 
whose portrait appears on page 979, though not exactly rugged, is very stony-looking. Like the 
Jack Crab, he is fond of getting under real stones of a larger size, and if he cannot manage to get 
below them, settles down close to one, and packing up his limbs close to his body, passes for a 
water-worn stone. Somewhat similar in the purpose of their design are the two larger Crabs in 
the lower portion of the coloured plate. The one on the right, known as Calappa, is said to 
have caused grave concern as well as astonishment to hardy mariners on the South American 
coast, who have picked up what they considered a pretty mottled pebble on the shore and deter- 
mined to include it among 
their hoard of 
to be taken home in due 
course. The astonishment 
comes when the supposed 
pebble puts forth limbs 
and scuttles away. A 
glance at its figure in the 
plate will show that the 
big pincer-claws are so 
< ”) 
“ curios 
fashioned that when they 
are folded in front of the 
mouth they increase the 
resemblance to a_ stone, 
but their roughly-toothed 
upper edge allows water 
to pass between them and 
the body-crust to reach 
the gill- opening. Note 
also how the eyes peep 
out just above these 
closed heavy door-like 
claws and inform the Crab 
when it is safe to cease 
being a stone and to show 
some activity. 
The pincer-claws of the 
Swimming Crab at the top - 
of our coloured plate are OIG TIS MASZED GRA. Lee 
also designed for use as 
The contraction of the trunk has brought about a resemblance to a mask. This Crab 
strainers when buried be- spends much of its life buried in the sand. Its long antennae applied together constitute 
a tube through which fresh supplies of water reach the gills. 
neath the sand, as is usual 
with Swimming Crabs at rest. A glance at the coloured plate will show other forms of Crab exteriors 
from various parts of the world, which considerations of space will not allow us to describe 
separately ; but in the light of what has been said, the reader may be interested in making 
conjectures as to their mode of life based on a study of their forms. 
The point we wish to emphasize is that this almost endless variety of form is obtained 
without violating the general plan, which is adhered to, it will be seen, in all the _ illus- 
trations we have given. If one keeps this point in view when examining any creature, whether 
Crab or any other form of animal life, it will be found to add enormously to the interest of our 
study. 
