Page:The fairy tales of science.djvu/152

122. He fulfils the important duties of a scavenger, and takes care that no decaying vegetable or animal matter shall remain long enough to be prejudicial to the purity of the sea. Instead of carting away the offal, this extraordinary little fellow crams it into his stomach, and appears to think it peculiarly palatable.

Look at those shells that are moving about so clumsily among the pebbles. They are the habitations of the soft-tailed crabs, who being unprovided with defensive armour are forced to seek shelter in the empty shells of different mollusca. There is a tolerably large specimen of these creatures inhabiting a whelk-shell. Look how awkwardly his claws, legs, and feelers loll out of the mouth of the shell; you would almost think that such a strange bunch of limbs would be utterly useless to the imprisoned creature. Here comes another, dragging a still larger shell after him, so prepare to witness a battle, for these creatures are terribly pugnacious. Now they meet, and begin to fight in earnest, tossing their legs and claws about in a most excited manner. Look how clumsily they tumble over each other, and you must confess that a more comical duel never took place either above or below the wave. But see, the larger crab appears to have got the worst of the fight, for he is scrambling off as fast as his legs can carry him. These humorous creatures must afford the mermaid considerable amusement, indeed, it is