I Have Before Alluded To A Crab Which Lives On The Cocoa-Nuts;
It Is Very Common On All Parts Of The Dry Land, And
Grows To A Monstrous Size:
It is closely allied or identical
with the Birgos latro.
The front pair of legs terminate in
very strong and heavy pincers, and the last pair are fitted
with others weaker and much narrower. It would at first
be thought quite impossible for a crab to open a strong
cocoa-nut covered with the husk; but Mr. Liesk assures me
that he has repeatedly seen this effected. The crab begins
by tearing the husk, fibre by fibre, and always from that
end under which the three eye-holes are situated; when this
is completed, the crab commences hammering with its heavy
claws on one of the eye-holes till an opening is made. Then
turning round its body, by the aid of its posterior and narrow
pair of pincers, it extracts the white albuminous substance.
I think this is as curious a case of instinct as ever
I heard of, and likewise of adaptation in structure between
two objects apparently so remote from each other in the
scheme of nature, as a crab and a cocoa-nut tree. The
Birgos is diurnal in its habits; but every night it is said to
pay a visit to the sea, no doubt for the purpose of moistening
its branchiae. The young are likewise hatched, and live for
some time, on the coast.
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