Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1891-06-11

Curious Points About Creatures That
Live In Borrowed Shells.

"The hermit crab has suffered inius-
tice from lhe report that he is accus-
toned TO devour mollusks for the
purpose OF taking forcible possession Of
their shells,n said Mr. Benedict OF the
Smithsonian Institution to a writer for
the Washington Star. "The fact is
that lac never adopts such a method OF
proceeding--if for no other reason, be-
cause there are always plenty OF vacant
shells to supply him and his kind with a
domicile. IL must not be supposed
either that the hermit resides In one es-
tablishment ell his life. He grows, like
any other crustacean, aud, just as other
crabs cast their coats and adopt fresh
ones, so does he vacate the quarters that
he finds too small for his comfortable
accommodation, moving at proper inter
walls into more commodious rooms.
Thus Mr.. III. Crab may rent as his tene-
ment, from his birth to his old age,
sizes. Necessarily, he may not always
find one that suits him perfectly when
he desires to move, just like people, but
he must take the best he can find; and
this will account for the fact that you
Gften discover such an individual drag
ging about en- establishment enhi ely too
big for him. or, what is worse, with an
insufficient roof over his -tail.
''It is his tail that tho hermit crab is
anxious to protect. It contains his alb
dominal parts and is so soft that any fish
is likely to bite it off. regarding it as an
exceptional tidbit. Therefore he slows
away this unattended extremity in any
suitable shell that he can find. Without
such defense for his exposed part life is
a distress to him. II is great fun to ex-
tract three or more hermit crabs from
their shells, set them naked in a bowl of
water with only one shell in it and watch
them maneuver for it. They will fight
ferociously, If it comes to the point, but,
preliminarily, they will resort to all sorts
of wiles to first secure the shield that
renders the successful one giant against
pygmies. II is as il as many unarmed
men were contending for loaded revolt
yer. The vulnerable tail of the hermit
crab is like the heel of Achilles-only
more so.
There is u kind of hermit crab in the
West Indies that lives almost altogether
upon the land, in holes beneath the roots
of trees and elsewhere. They dwell far
from the water and carry with them
shells as heavy as are borne by any species
of their kind-some of them weighing
more than a pound apiece. At their
breeding seasons they go to the water
and presumably exchange their shells
there, when necessary, for bigger ones.
ut seems curious freak OF nature to
find hermit crabs making bits of sponge
their homas -instaaa-of shells. This 10
accounted for by the fact that Mr.. H.
Crab has adopted as his home shell on
which little sponge has started to grow.
After while the sponge entirely covers
up the shell, the lining material of which
becomes bs.rbed, so that the crab is
found housed in the sponge, as if he
were quite at home.
"At other times sea anemones will
grow upon shell that has been taken
by hermit crab, and they will grow and
until the crab is obliged to drag
around a whole colony of anemones. Mr..
II. Crab thus appears like a gorgeous
flower pot, carrying with him an animal
bouquet displaying all the colors of the
rainbow. These anemones have myriads
of cells that contain poison darts like
those of the Liliputians, which feel to
the hand like stings of nettles. It is
imagined that these stings protect the
crab from enemies"