20 



BRANCH ECHINODERMATA. 

 FIG. 29. 





Astt'ri as forbes'il. Star-fish. E, Eye-spot. C, Coral plate. 8. Ambulacra! suckers which 

 on the arm toward the right are attached to a small stick. 



experiments have also demonstrated the presence of a 

 sense of smell. The water, which is taken in to expand 

 the ambulacral suckers, or tentacles, enters through a 

 brick-red sieve, the coral-opiate. 



The Pacific coast of North America furnishes several 

 varieties of Star-fishes differing from A.forbesii in size, and 

 also in the number of their arms, some having six arms, 

 while other allied genera have more than twenty arms 

 and attain to the diameter of three feet and upward. 



which there are at least one hundred and fifty species, have the power of disin- 

 tegrating themselves, especially the many-branched varieties, and of restoring in 

 a brief time the portions broken off. Hence, when fishermen vent their spite 

 upon them for stealing their bait, by tearing them in pieces and throwing them 

 overboard, they simply multiply the evil. Immersed in fresh cold water, they 

 die instantly, 



