The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1874-02-27
An Odd Fellow.

An Odd Fellow.
Odd should think so! why, he car
ries his house on his back, and has his
teeth on his legsl
That's tough story, but-dear mel
it's nothing TO what you'll have to be-
lieve when you come to study the curl
Gus creatures that live in the sea-
AS to carrying his house about with
him, that is nothing new, all crabs and
turtles do that, but | must admit he's
the only fellow ever heard of who has
teeth on LIS legs. If you and / are not
acquainted with him, it is merely be-
cause we havn't been prying into the do
mesric manners of the crab family all
these years, as some scientific gentlemen
nave. They have known about him
these many years, and he has even got
into the dictionary. Look in Webster's
big dictionary, at the word Limulus,
and you'll see picture of him. Limu-
lus, you must know, is his Latin name,
which he doesn't wear at home in the
sea. There he is called Horse foot Grab,
or King Crab.
And there's another droll thing about
him,-he's just the shape of the bottom
of horses foot, with long sharp tail
striking out at the heal. He's funny
sight when he is digging-and digging
is his special delight, can tell you
This shell is in two pieces; the front
piece bends down and slIovels up the
dirt, the back piece bends down the 9TH
er way, and the hard sharp tail braces
against the ground, while all his feet
| eight or ten there are-throw out the
for him to burrow into the mud out of
sight.
But l havn't told you about these use
full legs, which do the work of jaws, be-
sides their regular business of carrying
| their owner about.
There are five pair of them, besides a
short pair in front, called feelers, or an
tenne, if you want the book name. The
first four pair are furnished with sharp
teeth-lots of them, sometimes as many
as a hundred and fifty.
When this comical gentleman wants to
eat. he seizes a soft worm, or some other
sea delicacy, with his two hind feet, and
holds it up to his mouth, which is con-
veniently placed among all these useful
legs. Then the hundred and fifty sharp
little teeth go to work, and rasp the food
into bits, and the mouth takes it in.
How do you suppose all this was found
out? A naturalist, who was curious to
see what the horsefoot did with the
the food that he always pulled un'
der his shell, waited till he was hard al
work at his dinner, and then very cool
ly turned him over on his back. Mr.
LimuIus was too busy to mind, SO h'
went on eating, and the naturalist saw
the whole performance.
But haven't told you halfthe wonder
full things about him. When he is frs
Matched he is a quarter of inncn II
diameter, has no tail, and has shel
just the right size for him, of course
When he gets bigger he outgrows III
shell, as you youngsters do your clothes
and he has to get out of the old suit
It's very droll sight to see him com
out of himself in that way. He don
have so much trouble about it as lob
: sters and some other crabs do-he jus
splits open the front edge of his shell
and pulls himself out. But you kno'
he has been growing some time sine
that baby suit fitted him, and the faC
is he has been very much crowded tn
last few days. So when he gets fairl
out of the shell, he swells out an inc
or two bigger than he was before, and
= short time he has another shell bi
e enough for him, besides little sha I
e tail
n So ne goes on as long as he live
!, throwing off his old shells and gettin
l new ones.
This interesting little fellow is sul
piled with eyes, having two large ono
up hign on the shell, to see all abo'
. with, and two more in front.
must tell you how Mamma Hors'
c foot makes her nursery. In May
"a June, when she has perhaps, half pi'
II of eggs under her shell, and when tt
. tide is in that is, the water is up hig
Il on the shore-she comes Up Oh the san
as far as she can without getting out
e the waiter. She then digs hole an
3 puts the eggs into it-and that's just a
h she does about it, and she never sees oil
of the babies.
= The next wave covers these eggs q
IF with sand, the hot sun matches them OF
,s and the little ones know everything b
3, longing to a crabs education, and C;
Ie take care of themselves the minute th'
l. come out of the shell. But the drolie
e part of the business is the behavior
a- Mr.. Limulus. He wants to see that Il
r eggs are properly laid in the sand, al
a. he doesen't want the trouble of walkir
ht SO the lazy fellow jumps upon Mann
~ LimIus's shell, and lets her carry hi
IN up, and back again in the same way
m That's most as lazy as our noble
ii men, who sit and smoke while tn
ID | wives work for them.-.St. Nicholas
lie Ben Dunn, freedman living in A