The lobster and crab are perhaps the most comprehensive examples as well as the largest in size of the class, the vast majority of the species being minute forms. The ocean swarms with varieties too small to be noticeable to the naked eye. It is the province of /Crustacea/ to consume decaying organic matter, both animal and vegetable, and in doing this they perform a great service in purifying the waters of the pool, the shore, and even the sea. Not only in this are they serviceable, but to a great extent they serve as food for other animals, their flesh being palatable and preferred to that of other animals whose diet would seem to make them more wholesome. The small forms exist in such myriads, and increase so rapidly, that, although extremely small, they furnish an inexhaustible supply of food. Even some whales subsist upon these minute animals, and for man the larger species are articles of diet that are counted among the luxuries. The crustaceans are remarkable for their varied forms and for their [pg246] perfect adaptation to many different conditions of life. There is no class in the animal kingdom which presents so wide a range of organization, or whose structure deviates so widely from the type form. These differences lie chiefly in the external characters and in the structure of the appendages. Some species are solitary, like lobsters and crabs; others, like shrimps, are gregarious and live in immense shoals. In the habits of these animals there is much which excites wonder and interest. ANATOMY OF THE HIGHER CRUSTACEA