in its back, the legs spread out, the body followed, and the
crab walked away quite entire, even to the points of its nipper-claws,
leaving a perfectly entire shell behind it, so that, when we looked, it
seemed as though there were two complete crabs instead of one!

"Well!" exclaimed Peterkin, drawing a long breath, "I've _heard_ of a man
jumping out of his skin and sitting down in his skeleton in order to cool
himself, but I never expected to _see_ a crab do it!"

We were, in truth, much amazed at this spectacle, and the more so when we
observed that the new crab was larger than the crab that it came out of.
It was also quite soft, but by next morning its skin had hardened into a
good shell. We came thus to know that crabs grow in this way, and not by
the growing of their shells, as we had always thought before we saw this
wonderful operation.

Now I considered well the advice which Jack had given me about preparing
my tank, and the more I thought of it, the more I came to regard it as
very sound and worthy of being acted on. So I forthwith put his plan in
execution, and found it to answer excellently well, indeed much beyond my
expectation; for I found that after a little experience had taught me the
proper proportion of sea-weed and animals to put into a certain amount of
water, the tank needed no farther attendance; and, moreover, I did not
require ever afterwards to renew or change the sea-water, but only to add
a very little fresh water from the brook, now and then, as the other
evaporated. I therefore concluded that if I had been suddenly conveyed,
along with my tank, into some region where there was no salt sea at all,
my little sea and my sea-fish would have continued to thrive and to
prosper notwithstanding. This made me greatly to desire that those
people in the world who live far inland might know of my wonderful tank,
and, by having materials like to those of which it was made conveyed to
them, thus be enabled to watch the habits of those most mysterious
animals that reside in the sea, and examine with their own eyes the
wonders of the great deep.

For many days after this, while Peterkin and Jack were busily employed in
building a little boat out of the curious natural planks of the chestnut
tree, I spent much of my time in examining with the burning-glass the
marvellous operations that were constantly going on in my tank. Here I
saw those anemones which cling, like little red, yellow, and green bl