the claw is lost, Mr. Crab can grow another one, although it will not
be as large, or as strong as the first one.

The claws of a crab are his weapons, and terrible ones they are, too.
With them he defends himself against his enemies, and with them he
attacks his prey and tears it to pieces.

His bill of fare is composed of some kinds of fish and lower water
animals; and it is said that some crabs feed on sharks and whales. In
return fishes, sea-stars, sea-urchins and some shell-fish eat the
young crustaceans, and even attack the larger ones.

In the sand of the seashore the mother crab, or lobster, lays her
eggs, and there she leaves them to be hatched by the sun. Several
thousand eggs are laid at a time, but as many of the water animals
feed on the eggs and young, of course all the members of this large
family do not come to mature crabhood.

Lobsters like best to live along rocky shores, where the water is
clear and deep, and there they are caught in small wicker baskets, or
nets.

As for the crab, he loves to hide in the mud, and he can live longer
than the lobster when taken out of the water, by reason of the
different formation of his gills.

The Hermit-Crab seemed particularly proud of some of his relations who
live on land, and told Sammy marvelous tales of their strange habits.
Some of these land-crabs will suffocate if dipped in the water. They
live in the shades of the deep forest, often a long way from the sea,