Welsh Journals

490 Old Prices Remains. whilst the claws and legs are furnished with an extra amount of crustaceous armour, the tail is as naked as an earthworm or a pickled kewin (periwinkle)! And, as if to give physiological evidence that it is not a mere failure of development—a deficiency of material which might seem a not unnatural result of the excessive supply of the an¬ terior portion, the quasi-molluscous tail terminates in a most curious apparatus for Pag's locking himself into the apex of a spiral shell. This consists of a set of little ap¬ pendages strongly armed with crust, which fit into the last convolutions of the true shell as the wards of a key insinuate themselves into the chambers of the lock. These appendages, which are, no doubt, the equivalents of the fan tail of a true lobster, are nevertheless undoubtedly so modified in this singular and eccentric animal as to act very much like a hand; and, by their expansion, to accom¬ modate themselves to the varying dimensions of the spiral, so that our hermits are enabled, when provided with a well-fitting case, to protrude their head and arms more or less, pro re nata, out of the cavity, without losing the point d' appui au derriere. In fact, it is easy to see that they would be very helpless if they never had a firm hold of their borrowed coverings except when the said key was driven quite home to the narrow end of the lock. Besides, unless the quasi-digits could suit themselves by a change of form to a greater or less calibre, the difficulty of suiting themselves with a passable domicile, which is not incon¬ siderable, would be increased to an intolerable degree; and the necessity of going from house to house ("three removes," F. R., being " as bad as a fire," me voila trois fois brule vif a Birkenhead meme) multiplied most incon¬ veniently. Even as it is, with this beautiful provision not only for a highly anomalous average, but even against