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phenson proposed establishing a locomotive factory, and training a body of mechanics skilled to the new work at Newcastle. The thousand pounds given to him by the coal-owners for his invention of the safety-lamp he could advance. Mr. Pease and another friend advanced five hundred each, and so the Newcastle Engine Factory was founded.

TREE-CLIMBING CRABS.

NEW who look at the vast quantities of

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crabs, lobsters, sea crayfish, shrimps, and prawns, which are so temptingly and abundantly displayed in the shops of our fishmongers, consider them in any other light than as delicacies for the table. At present we desire only to touch upon certain strange species, the existence of which even is not generally known, and thus throw an interest around the whole tribe. First let us take a cursory glance at the Crustaceans, as the naturalist terms them that is, crabs, lobsters, and similar spe

With what determined perseverance Mr. Stephenson upheld the cause of the locomotive in connection with the proposed Liverpool and Manchester line; how he did cheaply what all the regular engineers declared impossible or ruinous, in carrying that line over Chat-Moss, | cies. persevering, when all who were about him had confessed despair, and because he had made good his boldest promises in every one case; how he was at last trusted in the face of public ridicule, upon the merits of the locomotive also; how, after the line was built, at the public competition of light engines, constructed in accordance with certain strict conditions, his little Rocket won the prize; how the fulfillment of his utmost assertions raised Stephenson to the position of an oracle in the eyes of the public; how he, nevertheless, went on improving the construction of both rails and locomotives; how the great railway system, of which the foundations were laid patiently by him, was rapidly developed ; how, when success begot a mania, he was as conspicuous for his determined moderation, as he had before been for his determined zeal; how he attained honor and fortune, and retired from public life, again to grow fruits or vegetables in his garden, pineapples instead of leeks, again to pet animals and watch the birds' nests in the hedges, we need not tell in detail; Mr. Smile's excellent biography tells it all.

One of the chief pleasures of his latter days was to hold out a helping hand to poor inventors who deserved assistance. He was a true man to the last, whom failure never drove to despair; whom success never elated to folly. Inch by inch he made his ground good in the world, and for the world. A year before his death, in 1848, somebody, about to dedicate a book to him, asked him what were his "ornamental initials." His reply was, "I have to state that I have no flourishes to my name, either before or after; and I think it will be as well if you merely say, George Stephenson."

Crabs and lobsters are strange creatures: strange in their configuration; strange in the transmutations which they exhibit from the egg to maturity; strange in the process they undergo of casting off, not only their shell, but the covering of their eyes, of their long horns, and even the lining of their tooth-furnished stomach; strange, also, are they in their habits and manners. We presume that our reader has often wandered along the sea-shore, and floundered amid banks of slimy sea-weed. If so, he cannot but have disturbed colonies of little crabs quietly nestling in fancied security; nor can he have scrutinized the nooks and recesses of the coast, the shallows, and the strips of sand left dry at ebb tide, without observing numbers of little, or perchance large crabs, some concealed in snug lurking-places, others, tripping with a quick, sidelong movement over the beach, alarmed by the advance of an unwelcome intruder. Some of these Crustaceans are exclusively tenants of the water, have feet formed like paddles, for swimming, and never venture on land; others seem to love the air and sunshine, and enjoy an excursion, not without hopes of finding an acceptable repast, over the oozy sands; some, equally fond of the shore and the shallow water, appropriate to themselves the shells of periwinkles, whelks, etc., and there live in a sort of castle, which they drag about with them on their excursions, changing it for a larger, not without serious scrutiny, as they increase in measure of growth.

The Crustaceans afford interesting objects for the consideration of those who delight in the study of natural history; especially those of the warmer latitudes of the globe. They vary in size, from

microscopic animalcules to the gigantic King Crab to the former, the luminosity of the ocean, or of the foam before the prows of vessels, is to a great extent attributable, each minute creature glowing with phosphoric radiance.

Certain crabs, especially in the West Indies, are almost exclusively terrestrial, visiting the sea only at given periods, for the deposition of their eggs. These crabs, carrying in their gill-chambers sufficient water for the purpose of respiration, live in burrows, and traverse considerable tracts of land in the performance of migratory journeys. Of these some, as the Violet Crab, are esteemed exquisite delicacies. Of one of the Burrowing Crabs Cuvier thus writes:

"The animal closes the entrance of its bur

row, which is situated near the margin of the sea, or in marshy grounds, with its largest claw. These burrows are cylindrical, oblique, very deep, and very close to each other; but generally each burrow is the exclusive habitation of a single individual. The habit which these crabs have of holding their large claw elevated in advance of the body, as if making a sign of beckoning to some one, has obtained for them the name of Calling Crabs. There is a species observed by Mr. Bosc in South Carolina, which passes the three months of the winter in its retreat without once quitting it, and which Dever goes to the sea except at the epoch of egg-laying."

The same observations apply to the Chevalier crabs (so called from the celerity with which they traverse the ground.) These are found in Africa, and along the borders of the Mediterranean.

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certainly to be placed among the most extraordinary of its race. The Hermit Crabs are voracious, and feed on animal substances, and this is the character of the Crustaceans in general. On the contrary, this Crab, or rather Lobster Crab-for it takes an intermediate place between them

is more delicate in its appetite, and feeds upon fruits, to obtain which it climbs up certain trees, at the feet of which it makes a burrow. The species in question is the Purse Crab or Robber Crab (Birgus latro) of Amboyna, and other islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It is probable that there are more than one species, but voyagers have not attended to nice discrimination.

The first naturalist who placed upon record the habits of the Purse Crab was

Herbst; and to his account Rumphius, Seba, Linnæus, and Cuvier refer. The latter observes that," according to a popular belief among the Indians, the animal feeds on the nuts of the cocoa-tree, and that it makes its excursions during the night." He gives fissures in the rocks, or holes in the ground, as its places of re

treat.

That the accounts of the early writers and travelers should have been received with incredulity is not surprising, nor that the statements of the natives should have been deemed almost unworthy of serious consideration. The truth of these details has been, however, within the last few years, abundantly confirmed in all their essentials. MM. Quoy and Gaimard assure us that several individuals of this Some crabs, truly aquatic, as the Vaulted species were fed by them for many months Crab of the Moluccas, have the power of on cocoa-nuts alone: a circumstance comdrawing back their limbs and concealing mented upon by Professor Owen, when a them in a furrow, which they closely fit; specimen of this crab was laid before one and thus, in imitation of a tortoise, which of the scientific meetings of the Zoological retracts its feet and head within its shell, Society, with additional information from they secure themselves, when alarmed, Mr. Cuming, in whose fine collection of from the attack of enemies. Other aquatic Crustacea, shells, etc., from the islands species have the limbs adapted for clinging of the South Pacific, several specimens to weeds and other marine objects. Of were preserved. According to this enterthese, some have the two or four hinder prising voyager and naturalist, these crabs pair of limbs so placed as to appear to are to be found in great abundance at Lord spring from the back; they terminate in a Hood's Island, in the Pacific. He there sharp hook, by means of which the animal frequently met with them on the road; attaches itself to the valves of shells, frag- and states that, on being disturbed, they ments of coral, etc., which it draws over instantly assumed a defensive attitude, its body, and thus lurks in concealment. making a violent snapping with their powAllied in some respects to the Hermit or erful claws or pincers, and continued this Soldier Crabs, which tenant empty shells, snapping as they retreated backward. and to which we have briefly alluded, is They climb a species of palm, (Pandanus one which, from its habits and manners, is odoratissimus,) and eat a small kind of

cocoa-nut that grows thereon. They live at the roots of the trees, and not in the holes of rocks; and they are a favorite food among the natives. Such is the substance of Mr. Cuming's account; to which we shall now add a most interesting passage from Mr. Darwin's "Researches in Geology and Natural History," relative to the habits of these crabs, as observed by him in the Keeling Islands, or Cocos Islands, situated in the Indian Ocean, six hundred miles distant from the coast of Sumatra. In these islands, of coral formation, the cocoa-nut tree so prevails as to appear, at a first glance, to compose the whole wood, but five or six other kinds are also to be seen, and one of large size. Here the Great Purse Crab is abundant. Mr. Darwin writes as follows:

"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 to, or is identical with, the Birgus latro. This crab has its front pair of legs terminated by very strong and heavy pincers, and the last pair by others which are narrow and weak. 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 the operation effected. The crab begins

by tearing away the husk, fiber by fiber, 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 these eye-holes till an

opening is made. Then, turning 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 as I ever 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 Birgus is diurnal in its habits; but it is said to pay every night a visit to the sea for the purpose of moistening its gills."

These gills, we may here observe, are very peculiar, and scarcely fill up more than a tenth of the chamber in which they are situated, and which, doubtless, acts as a reservoir for water, to serve during the animals' excursions over the dry and heated land. The young are hatched and live for some time on the coast. At this period of existence we cannot suppose that cocoa-nuts form any part of their diet; most probably soft saccharine grasses, tender fruits, and animal matters constitute their food, until they attain to a certain degree of size and strength. Mr. Darwin continues:

"The adult crabs inhabit deep burrows, which they excavate beneath the roots of trees; and here they accumulate surprising quantities of the picked fibres of the cocoa-nut husk, on which they rest as on a bed. The Malays sometimes take advantage of their labors by collecting the coarse fibrous substance and using it as junk.

"These crabs are very good to eat; moreover, under the tail of the larger ones there is a great mass of fat, which when melted yields as much as a quart bottleful of limpid oil.

"It has been stated by some authors that the Birgus latro crawls up the cocoa-nut trees, for the purpose of stealing the nuts. I very much doubt the possibility of this; but with Pandanus (to which Mr. Cuming refers as being ascended by this crab) the task would be very

much easier. I understand from Mr. Liesk that on these islands the Birgus lives only on the nuts which fall to the ground."

It may at first appear that Mr. Cuming's and Mr. Darwin's respective accounts of the non-climbing of this animal, on the one side, and of its actually climbing trees on the other, are contradictory. The height of the stem of the cocoa-nut tree, its circumference, and comparative external smoothness, would certainly prove insurmountable, or at least very serious, obstacles to the most ambitious and most greedy Birgus, however large and strong it might be. But these difficulties are by no means so formidable in the plants of the Pandanus tribe; a group composed of arborescent or bushy species, with long, thin, rigid, sword-shaped leaves resembling those of the pine-apple, usually arranged in a manner so obviously spiral, that they are commonly called Screwpines. In the genus Pandanus (a word derived from the Malay Pandang) the leaves decidedly present this spiral mode of arrangement. The Pandanus odoratissimus is celebrated for the fragrance of its essence, and is referred to by the Sanscrit poets under the name of Ketaka. It is the Keora and Ketgee of the Hindoos, and the Kazee of the Arabs. Oil impregnated with the essence of its flowers, and water distilled from them, are highly esteemed, both for their odor and medicinal qualities. In the peninsula of India this species is called the Caldera bush; and Dr. Roxburgh informs us that it is from the tender white leaves of the flowers, particularly of the male flowers, that the essence is obtained. The lower pulpy part of the drupes is sometimes eaten, as is also the terminal bud, together with the white base of the long acute leaves,

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either boiled or raw. It forms an excellent hedge, but occupies an inconvenient degree of room. The leaves are composed of tough white longitudinal fibers, well adapted for the fabrication of matting and cordage, for the manufacture of sacks and similar articles. An allied and very fragrant species is common in Tahiti, where it is called the Wharra tree; others are found in the Mauritius, where they are known as the Vaquois plant. Long roots are thrown off from the sides of the stems of these screw-pines, for the purpose of holding them more steadily in the loose sandy or coral-formed soil in which they grow. The fruit consists of

a mass of seed berries or ovaries, collected into a tuberculated head. In some species they are dry and fibrous, in others fleshy and succulent.

This slight description of the general character of the Pandanus, or screw-pine, will suffice to show that the ascent of these arborescent plants, having the stem furnished with a rigging of cord-like roots, and bearing a multitude of firm, long, and spirally-arranged leaves, will be by no means a work of difficulty, as would necessarily be that of the tall, feathery-topped cocoa-nut tree, destitute of all available points of aid or support. Hence the contradiction in the two accounts referred to

is seeming, and not real, and both state- | ments are easily reconciled. We may here observe that fine specimens of the Birgus are to be seen in the British Museum.

That, among such animals as the Crab tribes, a tree-climbing species is to be found is certainly curious, but it is not without a parallel among fishes. Among these latter, many leave the water, some even for a long period, and perform overland journeys, aided in their progress by the structure of their fins. In these fishes the gills and gill-chambers are constructed for the retention of water for a considerable time, so as to suffice for the necessary degree of respiration. In our own country we may mention the eel, which, as we know, from personal experience, often voluntarily quits the river or lake, and wanders during the night over the adjacent meadows, probably in quest of dew-worms.

But the marshes of India and China present us with fishes much more decidedly terrestrial, and which (some of them, at least) were known to the ancients.

Among these are several members of a genus called Ophicephalus, (from their snake-like form). These fishes, having an elongated and cylindrical body, creep on land to great distances from their native waters. The boatmen of India often keep these fishes for a long time out of their true element, for the sake of diverting themselves and others by their terrestrial movements; and children may be often seen pursuing this sort of sport. Of these terrestrial or land-haunting fishes the most remarkable is the Pannei-eri, (tree-climber,) as it is called in Tranquebar. This fish inhabits India, the Indian islands, and various parts of China, Chusan, etc.; living in marshes, and feeding on aquatic insects, worms, etc. Not only does this fish wander on land, but, according to Daldorf, a Danish gentleman, who, in 1797, communicated an account of its habits to the Linnean Society, (Trans. Linn., iii., p. 62), it mounts up the bushes or low palms to some elevation. This gentleman states that he has himself observed it in the act of ascending palmtrees near the marshes, and had taken it at a height of no less than five feet, measured from the level of the adjacent water. It effects its ascent by means of its pectoral and under fins, aided by the action

of the tail and the spines which border the gill covers. It is by the same agency that it traverses the land. The statement of M. Daldorf is corroborated by M. John, also a Danish observer, to whom we are indebted for the knowledge of its name in Tranquebar, which alludes to its arboreal proceedings.

IN

THE CHINESE EMIGRANT.

N no country in the world, perhaps, are so many laws made only to be broken, as in China. If many of these statutes and regulations are excellent in themselves, and conceived in a wise moral spirit, others are unwise, and even preposterous, while not a few are rendered impracticable by natural causes. Thus, for example, emigration is strictly prohibited, so that, overpeopled as the empire is, no Chinese can lawfully leave his country to settle in another. Nevertheless, during the last fifty years, want of room, and scarcity of bread at home, have annually driven many thousands to migrate to other lands; and the officers of government have been obliged to wink and connive at their departure. It could not, indeed, be otherwise, in districts where the population had far outrun its means of subsistence, and where people, in years of bad harvests, were not unfrequently reduced to the frightful extremity of selling their children, and even eating one another. Horrible as is this alternative, it is yet a well-ascertained fact. Within these last twelve years, or since the conclusion of the English war with the Celestial Emperor, these streams of emigration have been greatly swollen. In all the neighboring seas, wherever there is an island, peninsula, or promontory, held by the English, Dutch, or other European nation, we are now pretty sure to find a colony of industrious Chinese; while other individuals of that nation have transported themselves as far as St. Helena, Australia, California, and other distant regions. The following story of an emigrant occurred a few years ago.

In a very poor, crowded, and hungry district, in the province of Fokien, there lived a distressed agricultural family, consisting of wife and husband, two sons and a daughter. They had struggled hard through two seasons of drought and dearth, and were anticipating better fortune in the

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