old habitation, tries on the new one. If this be found inconvenient, it quickly resumes the old one. It thus frequently changes, till at length it finds one that is light, roomy, and commodious. To this it adheres, though the shell be sometimes so large as to hide both the body and claws of the animal.

But many trials and many combats are sometimes to be sustained by the Hermit Crab, before he is thus equipped for there is often a contest between two of these animals for some favourite shell. They both endeavour to take possession. They strike with their claws, and bite each other, till the weakest is compelled to yield. The victor then takes possession, and, in his new acquisition, parades backward and forward on the strand, before his envious antagonist. These Crabs feed on small marine animals of various kinds.

THE LOBSTER *.

Lobsters are found on most of the rocky coasts of Great Britain. Some are caught with the hand, but the greater number in pots; a sort of traps, formed of twigs, and baited with garbage. These are formed like a wire mouse-trap, so that when the lobster gets in, there is no return. They are fastened to a cord sunk into the sea, and their place is marked by a buoy.

These animals are extremely prolific. Dr. Baster says he counted 12,444 eggs under the tail of a female Lobster, besides those that remained in the body unprotruded. They deposit these eggs in the sand, where they are soon hatched.

Like the rest of their tribe, they are said annually to cast their shells. Previously to putting off their old shell, they appear sick, languid, and restless. They acquire an entirely new covering in a few days; but

SYNONYMS. Cancer gammarus. Linn.-Astacus marinus. Fabricius.-Ecrevisse homard, in France.

during the time that they remain defenceless, they seek some lonely place, lest they should be attacked and devoured by such of their brethren as are not in the same weak condition.

At the same time that they cast their shell, they change also their stomach and intestines. The animal, while it is moulting, is said to feed upon its former stomach, which wastes by degrees, and is at length replaced by a new one.

Like some of the Crabs, these animals are said to be attached to particular parts of the sea.

The pincers of one of the Lobster's large claws are furnished with knobs, and those of the other are always serrated. With the former it keeps firm hold of the stalks of submarine plants, and with the latter it cuts and minces its food very dexterously. The knobbed or numb claw, as the fishermen call it, is sometimes on the right, and sometimes on the left side, indifferently. It is more dangerous for a person to be seized by the cutting claw than the other; but, in either case, the quickest way of getting disengaged from the creature, is to pluck off its claw.

In casting their shells, it is difficult to imagine how the Lobsters are able to draw the flesh of their large claws out, leaving the shells of these entire and attached to the shell of the body; in which state they are constantly found. The fishermen say, that, previously to this operation, the Lobster pines away, till the flesh in its large claw is no thicker than the quill of a goose, by which they are enabled to draw this through the joints and narrow passages near the trunk. The new shell is membranaceous at first, but it hardens by degrees. Lobsters only grow in size while their shells are in a

soft state.

In the water these animals are able to run nimbly upon their legs or small claws; and, if alarmed, they can spring, tail foremost, to a surprising distance, almost as swiftly as a bird can fly. The fishermen can see them pass about thirty feet, and, by the swiftness of

their motion, it is supposed that they may go much further. When frightened, they will spring from a considerable distance to their hold in the rock; and, what is not less surprising than true, will throw themselves into their hold in that manner, through an entrance scarcely sufficient for their bodies to pass; as is frequently seen by the people who catch Lobsters at Filey Bridge, near Scarborough.

The circumstance of Lobsters losing their claws at thunder-claps, or the sound of cannon, is well-authenticated; and the fishermen are often jestingly threatened with a salute by the sailors. The restoration of claws thus lost may always be observed; for these never again grow to their former size. When the claws of Lobsters become inconvenient to the animals, from being injured, they always break them off.

Lobsters are caught in such abundance on the coast of Northumberland, that, about the year 1769, the sum paid for the annual exports from Newbiggen and Newton, by the sea, amounted to nearly 1500l. This circumstance was stated by John Creswell, Esq. of Creswell, who, for many years, had made the payments for them from one fishmonger in London, on whose account all the most valuable fish from the coast of Northum→ berland were shipped.

THE PRAWN*, AND SHRIMP†.

Prawns are chiefly found among sea-weed, and in the vicinity of rocks at a little distance from the shore.

• DESCRIPTION. The Prawn has a long horn in front of its head, compressed vertically, serrated both above and below, and bending somewhat upward. The thorax is smooth; the claws are small; and the intermediate antennæ on each side are treble.

SYNONYMS. Cancer Squilla. Linnæus.-La Crevette ou Salicoque. Cuvier.-Palæmon Squille. Tigny. Latreille.— Pandle, in some parts of England.

+ DESCRIPTION. The Shrimp is considerably smaller than

They seldom enter the mouths of rivers. Their usual mode of swimming is on their backs; but when threatened with danger, they throw themselves on one side, and spring backward to very considerable distances. They feed on all the smaller kinds of marine animals, which they seize and devour with great voracity. In their turn, they are the prey of numerous species of fish; although the sharp and serrated horn in front of their head constitutes a very powerful weapon of defence against the attacks of all the smaller kinds.

Being in great request for the table, they are eagerly sought for by fishermen, who catch them either in osier baskets, similar to those employed in catching lobsters, or in a kind of nets, called putting-nets. These, which are well known to all frequenters of the sea-coasts, are five or six feet in width, and flat at the bottom; and are pushed along in the shallow water, upon the sandy shores, by a man who walks behind. When fresh, the colour of the Prawn is somewhat cinereous; but, when boiled, it changes to a beautiful light red.

At the side of the head there is frequently to be ob served a large and apparently unnatural lump. This, if examined, will be found to contain, under the thoracic plate, a species of crustaceous animal, which occupies the whole cavity, and there feeds, and perfects its growth. It is described very minutely by Col. Montague, in the Linnean Transactions, and is denominated by him Oniscus Squillarum. This gentleman says respecting it, "The most incurious person cannot but have noticed the tumour so common on the thorax of the Prawn or Shrimp, during the summer months, that is occasioned by the lodgment of this animal, whose

the Prawn. In place of the horn above-mentioned, it has two thin, projecting laminæ. The claws have a single, hooked, movable fang. The intermediate antennæ on each side are only double.

SYNONYMS. Cancer Crangon. Linn.-Le Cardon. Cuvier. Crangon vulgaire. Tigny. Latreille.

growth occasions the distortion of the shell. This tumour forms a secure asylum for the production of the more than usually soft and membranaceous bodies of the parasitical Onisci.

"That an insect so extremely common, and so obvious to even the most cursory observer, should not have found a place in the Systema Naturæ of Linnæus, appears very extraordinary. The male, which has hitherto escaped observation, is probably very minute."

The Shrimp is much smaller than the Prawn, and is by no means so much esteemed for the table as this. It frequents sandy sea-shores in great abundance, and not unfrequently enters harbours, and even the ditches and ponds of salt-marshes. Its habits and economy are, in most respects, similar to those of the Prawn.

THE COMMON OR FRESH-WATER CRAW-FISH*.

When the claw of the common Craw-fish is broken, it has been observed that, a day or two after the piece is cast off, a red membrane, not unlike a bit of red cloth, closes the aperture. This is at first plain; but, in four or five days, it assumes a convexity, which gradually augments until it takes the appearance of a small cone, about a line in height. It continues, however, to stretch out, and in ten days is sometimes more than three lines, or about a quarter of an inch high. It is not hollow, but filled with flesh, and this flesh is the basis or rudiment of a new claw. The membrane that covers the flesh performs the same office to the young claw as the membranes do to the foetus of the larger animals. It extends in proportion as the animal grows; and, as it is tolerably thick, we can perceive nothing but a lengthened coné. When fifteen days are elapsed, this cone inclines towards the head of the animal. In a few days more its curvature increases, and it begins to assume

SYNONYMS. Cancer astacus. Linn.-Astacus fluviatilis. Fabricius.Ecrevisse de rivière, in France.