167

vast multitudes, and emigrate from the tip lands towards the sea-shore: when arrived there, they deposit their spawn in the water, and then return to their usual haunts. Selfpreservation is the grand law of animated beings. If. one of this numerous company falls lame, or meets with an accident, his fellow-travellers devour him, that he may not be an impediment to their journey.

Most of the genus are very prolific. The Common Lobster is said to produce upwards of twelve thousand eggs each time of laying. Some of the foreign species are beautifully coloured and variegated.

nbc habits of the common lobster may serve as a specimen of the general manners of its congeners. It selects the clearest water, and delights to fix its station at the foot of rocks, that afford it shelter. Its breeding season is early in the summer. The eggs are deposited in the sand. When first hatched, they look somewhat like tadpoles, but gradually assume their complete form.

Most of the insects belonging to the genus
J'lfonoculus inhabit the water, and are exceed
ing small; though the JWonoculus Poljphernus,
or King Crab, is the largest of the crustaceous
tribe; the body measuring, sometimes, two feet
in length. It is found in the Indian ocean,
and