35
with in all the instances we observed, the protruded claw considerably longer and larger than the other, yet this may not be a permanent characteristic of the species.
So perfect is everything which has been created, that we naturally ask ourselves the question, how may this seeming defect be accounted for; was the crab so created originally, or has this practice (as Mr. Lewes suggests[1]) resorted to at the outset as a temporary refuge from more powerful enemies, now become an organised tendency in the species? It is not easy to conjecture, but we incline to the opinion of Mr. Kirby,[2] that this singular form and habitation enables these uncouth animals to prey on creatures, which were they to wear the livery of their own tribe would be on their guard and escape them. We find too, that to adapt themselves thoroughly to their dwelling place, what in other species would be the tail, is in them transformed into an apparatus by which a firmer grip of it is obtained, and so carried more easily along whenever they take their walks abroad for pleasure or from necessity.
Whilst groping about in shallow water not many days since for the green Algae which grow attached to the rocks, an object moving freely about,—apparently vegetable,—arrested our attention; it was speedily captured and taken home inter alia, but so thickly was it covered with small fragments of red Algæ, and the violet colored zoophyte, Catenicella aurita, that it required long and very careful examination before we
- ↑ "Seaside Studies," page 47.
- ↑ "History, Habits, and Instincts of Animals." Bridg. Treat.
