The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-06-07

cess. l had begun to Wondar ~
would nave to do something elst
when, on the fifth morning, the $50
made up his mind to investigate. ~
swan almost up to the finger and then
hurtled back to the bottom. That af.
ernoon, when 1 inserted nv 6nao-
again, he came closer, but still did no.
touch it. NV
On the following day he sudden,,.
darted at it and nipped it ferociously
and swan away again madly. When
he found that the finger did not NOV
he returned and nipped at it again
After he had done this enough times
to make that finger tip uncomfortahl,
sore, he got so inquisftive that he ac-
| tually held on to it. 1 could feel a
queer vibration as he exerted all his
tiny but powerful muscles to nip with
all his strength, and when the finger
still failed to move, he put all his legs
around it and hitched himself up on
it until his eyes and mouth were orr
of the water. Then he saw me ana
dropped back with a mighty splash
The next day I put bit of clam on
my finger-tip and held it just at the
| surface. Mr.. Crab bounced at it. seiz
| ed the clam and dived to the bottom
with his legs padding frantically, mst
| like a boy who has broken a pane oP
glass and is hustling away, not DARING
|
! close to him or not.
| After he had been brought to this
pitch it seemed as if he would never
| grow any tanner. He took the clan,
without hesitation, but he ALWAYS Aad
| instantly the moment it was in his
claws. Day after day 1 held it out IN
him, and day after day he took it and
| fed.
After almost two weeks of this
placed the clam on my finger in such
a way that it would be just above tba
surface after the finger-tip was in the
water. 1t required only three at
tempts to induce the crab to climb IN
and reach out of the water for the it'd
bit. Then I knew 1 had him.
The next day the clam was a u++la
further out of the water and again the
crab climbed up. The third day
managed to make him climb alnoost
entirely out of the water after the
food
On the fourth day I not only placed
the clam in such a position on INV
finger that he would have to leave the
water entirely to get it, but 1 pressed
my thumb on one end of the piece IN
hold it so that he would have to mil
at it. That frightened him at first and
there was another demand on patience
but finally 1 had the satisfaction ~
seeing him hold fast to the finger w,tb
all his sharp legs while he tore at the
clam without trying to skedaddle bacL
into the water
All the rest of the tanning operation
was easy after that 1t required onIv
great gentleness and care not to mako
any sudden motions that might alarm
him. Al
About the time that the crab had
grown to be about as big as a half
dollar he was so confident that no
harm would come to him that [ was
able to put my whole hand into The
tank and he would swim up. climb on
1t and eat whatever he found thera
for him.
AT last he would sit on my hand and
take the clam from the fingers of the
other hand, and when his education
nad progressed as far as that he NAV
De SAID to have been perfectly tame
FlndliS ne got so friendly that he
would climb on my hand even when
there was no food on it, and if 7 held
out hnger to him then he would onIv
touch it with his claws without irving
to nip it, ''i"s
But he never got so completely
tame that he would permit himself 10
De on his guard. His queer BLACK
Deads OF eyes were fixed on me an
the time, and the long stalks ON which
tney We're set were never at rest He
also held his shears in constant readi-
ness to attack or defend.
he grew very fast indeed, and with
IN year ne was as big as the palm Of
my hand. You may be sure that |
TOOK extremely good care then never
10 annoy or startle him when he sat
on my hand, for his shears were 90
big and strong that they would have
cut big gashes, and if he had nipped
me he would, no doubt, have held so
strongly that I would have been
forced to break his claws before I
could have released myself
During the time that l had him he
shed his shell about half a dozen
times. This was a wonderful opera
ton. 1 could always tell when he was
ready to do it, for he would make an
elaborate hiding place for himself a
few days before the time.
When he was ready to shed the first
thing that happened was that his shell
would begin to split along the sides.
AS his flesh bulged out from the open
ings. the split grew rapidly until the
upper shell was loose like a lid. The
crab struggled vehemently to with
draw his legs from the shell, just like
a fat man trying to get out of a tight
overcoat. Finally he would fall on his
back and kick and fight until he
worked himself quite loose.
Despite all contortions and writh-
ings, the shell would not be broken.
After the crab had crawled out it
would be perfect, even the eye stalks
being just as they were while the crab
was in it.
The upper shell always closed back
again on the lower, and five minutes
after the crab had emerged anybody
looking into the tank would have been
deceived into thinking that the dis
carded shell was a live crab, sittlnS
wickedly and watchfully on the bot
tom.
Many persons to whom I showed
the cast shell while it still lay in the
tank refused to believe that it was not
a crab until fished it out. The CRABS
new shell hardened on him within TWO
days after shedding the old one.
The DOinGs of the BIunderktns'