New-York tribune., 1900-10-28

considered great delicacy by our first Presi-
dent
The crab has been known to naturalists from
the earliest times of history. and the lively
imagination of writer's natural history has
woven a curious network of stories about the
life and home of this modest little animal
Aristotle, the Greek and Pliny. the Rnrlan
naturalists. believed that a definite relation Uf
understanding existed between the sheHfsh and
It's little lOdSer, and even went far as To say
that death would be the esult ii the crab should
desert its host. The Wdtchfu! crab. living within
the home of the dull and stupid oyster on seeing
small llSh approach. would wait Until one more
bold than the rest of his companions ventured
within the open shells, then gently nipping the
oyster, the doors would bc closed and the fish
held prisoner. ThereupOn tn two the host
and his guest, would feed at leisure upon the
body of the Venturesome fish
beautiful arrangement between these
two-the blind and the lame-and very pretty
compact-but the cold eye of science saw that
bivalves do not feed upon fish. but upon micro
scOplc animals and plants which live and float
in the water, and that the little crab whose
limbs soft and yielding could have
neither the strength nor the power to pinch off
morsels of food from an ordinary fish.
Another story. which held its until late
in the last century. was that this little crab
hunted by night for His Majesty the lion 1t
would sally forth TO hunt and bring food to the
helpless mussel or oyster and, on returning from
the huht' Should IL ma the house closed, would
give a cry. which was recognized by its host the
door instantly opened. and it was allowed to
enter Study has shown that the crab never
leaves its home and cannot cry but as with the
hon, which, in fact. often gets the food for the
jackal. so it is that the little crab feeds upon
the substances which are swept in hv the cur
rent Of water made by the biValVe in order to
bring i'm its own food and to freshen the water
for its respiration.
Again the crab was said to warn its protecting
host from danger 10y a timely pinch so that the
doors could be closed against some crafty octo-
pus nsidious slartish and for which service
the crab was rewarded by board and lodging
This relation between the crab and the BIZ
valve % vas used by the ancients to illustrate how
helpless is man without a friend. Even Cicero
is said to have used this sme, and we find the
same idea expressed by the Egyptians in their
hero%lyphic writings.
The oyster crab it l. true may act i'm Sucb
manner that it warns the oyster of the approach
Of danger but We scarcely believe that it is any
thing but personal motive on its part We
nineteenth century folk do not believe that anv
Intelligent Understanding exists between the
two. We have all seen how a crab viii hurry
back and forth on the approach of danger will
dart into the first crevice to escape its foe and.
when in safety, brandsh its formidable claws
with the greatest show of bravery. So the little
tlnnotheres may, with the same instinct run
hack and forth within the sensitive mantle of
the oyster, and. retreating, push against its
SoIt body, Which VIII indicate TO the slothful
intelligence of its host that something is wrong
outside when il will discreety close its shell. as
the better part of ValOr.
The oyster crab is about the size of a large
pea. the body is gInbuiar, the legs small and
weak. and IT differs from nearly every other
crab in having perfectly soft yielding skin.
lE fact, it was always a soft shelied crab"
The Pnnotheres are found all over the world
Wherever We ma oysters, muSSclS SCallOpS,
nom the Antarctic Ocean to the frozen North;
hut IL seems that they only Used as a table
delcacy by the American people. In the West
indies there is an oyster which attaches itself to
the long roots of the mangrOVe trees. When
Columbus first them he was greatly as
toniShed to find, among the many wonders of
tie Western world, oyster bearing trees and
having read that pearls formed in oysters by
drops of dew falling into their open mouths re
ported 10 the credulouS Europeans that the man
grove oyster must yield an abundant harvest
Tor the dew was so heavy I'm these tropical isl
ands. DIR. Patrick Browne however tells US in
lIo6, that the oyster crab is very common in the