The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1884-01-26

their weak and unprotected bodies TALL
an easy prey TO their enemies. and they
are devoured even by other crabs which
happen to be in better plight. Now it
is that they are known as ''soft-shelled"
crabs.
Crustaceans, when fully coated with
mail, are strong and destructive, fight
| ing among themselves as well rs with
other animals. They eat any small
creatures that come in their way,
whether living or dead. On the other
hand, they themselves are destroyed by
| larger animals, and crustaceans form a
| large part of the food of star-fish, sea-
urehins, mollusks, and many kinds of
fish and birds, consequently great guam
titles of them are killed before reaching
their full size. To protect the race
from destruction by this loss of life, all
crustaceans produce immense quantities
of eggs.
Young crabs are so unlike the full
grown ones that naturalists formerly
thought they belonged to different
class of animals. As soon as they are
born they rise to the surface of the
water, and swim about freely. After
passing through several changes the
body becomes large and heavy toward
the head, and the young crabs, losing
the power of swimming, sink to the
bottom, where they hide for awhile. AS
they gain in size and strength, and are
ready to begin their new manner of
living, they creep toward the shore,
and most of them pass the rest of their
days in shallow water among the sea-
weed In the tropics some species live
in the fresh-water of brooks and rivers.
Others live in the shades of damp for
ests; still, when breeding-ti1ne arrives,
they visit the sea-shore to deposit their
eggs.
The land-crabs of Jamaica even live
on the mountain-tops, yet every year
they yield to longing for their
old home, and come down to
the shores of the Caribbean Sea
to lay their eggs. This duty performed,
they return again to the mountains.
The hermit-crab is always an object
of interest. Unlike other crustaceans,
it has no shell to protect the soft body,
and tempting morsel is thus exposed.
The hermit, conscious of its weak point,
seeks shelter by taking possession of
some spiral shell in which to place its
soft abdomen. The hard claws and the
first two pairs of feet generally hang out
over the edge of the shell, which hence
forth moves aboutupon the crabs back as
if the two belonged together. The shorter
hind-feet are roughened, enabling the
crab to hold on the inside of the shell,
and it clings so tightly that it will some
times allow itself to be torn in pieces
rather than quit its hold.
AS the hermit grows it needs to hunt
up larger home, and it may be seen
creeping along the shore, examining
and turning over shells to select one,
often trying on several before it is
suited-much as boy might try on
several pairs of boots before he is fitted
exactly. Should hermit fancy the
shell of some living snail, it would not
hesitate, / am sorry to say. to kill and
eat the owner, and then coolly take
possession of the shell. Two hermts
are sometimes found fighting for the
same shell.
Fiddler-crabs have one claw much
larger than the other, and as they walk
sideways they hold up the large claw in
; a threatening manner. They dig holes in
the mud to live in, and they enter these
. homes with extreme caution. Running
quickly to the entrance, they pause
awhile. turn their stalked eyes in every
direction, and then dart suddenly in.
They are not easily caught, for they
dart into their holes quickly when
: alarmed.
The fiddler-crab is a striking illustra-
ton of the effect of use upon any one
organ. The large claw so peculiar to
this group belongs only to the males,
, who are great fighters. They use the
large claw in their combats, which fact
accounts for its increased size, and also
for the absence of large claw in the
more peaceable females.
Many of you have seen the little round
crabs that live in oyster shells. These
, pea-crabs, or oyster-crabs, as they are
t called, are cons dered a great delicacy,
and they are sometimes collected and
sold by the dozen. Having no hard
covering. they always take up their
, abode within the shell of the oyster OF
some other bivalve. They are not
prisoners within the shell, as they
venture out into the water sometimes,
and return again when they wish to-
They are said not to annoy the oyster
, in the least, or to deprive it OF
any of its food, since they eat certain
, small animals which float into the she'll,
but which the oyster never leeds upon
, Strange to say, it is only the female that
, shuts herself up within an oyster she'll
, The male is much smaller and frolics
: about ON the surface of the sea.-SaraI
, Cooper, in Harptr'S Young People.