1S6 DUBLIlf NATUEAL HISTOET SOCIBTY. 



its contents into a basin of salt water. On examination I discovered symptoms 

 of life in this fragment, and, putting it into a finger-glass of clear sea- water, I 

 found that it became elongated, and assumed the outline of a slug; still, vitality 

 was very languid, and I scarcely entertained a hope of finding it alive in the 

 morning ; when that arrived, I examined the glass, and you may judge of my as- 

 tonishment on finding, in place of the languid brown slug, an animal about two 

 inches in length, of a beautiful frosted silver appearance, having five rows of 

 suckers the length of the body, each in motion, the whole presenting an irides- 

 cent appearance. It could be readily mistaken for a lady's brooch of exquisite 

 workmanship. I immediately perceived that I was in possession of an unde- 

 scribed Holothuria; and, on examining the best authorities on the subject (Pro- 

 fessor Edward Forbes's work on the British Star Fishes included), I found my 

 suspicions verified. 



" The animal, as I stated, was about two inches in length, of a white silver 

 colour, having five rows of suckers, about the eighth of an inch in height, placed 

 IcJngitudinally on the body — two ventral, used as organs of progression, two la- 

 teral, and one dorsal ; those converged towards the extremity, and formed a 

 bushy tail, which was generally elevated. 



" The mouth, or dental circle, at the other extremity, was surrounded by a 

 dark band, immediately inside of which there were eight or nine tentacula, as far 

 as I could detect (but more probably ten), of a beautiful canary colour. These 

 the animal pushed out with a peculiarly graceful motion, retracting them in like 

 manner. 



*' Animals similar to this are generally objects of disgust to females ; but in 

 this case it was quite the contrary. A sympathy for the captive Holothuria was 

 elicited; regular visits and reports were made as to his state, and from these I 

 may extract the following : — 



" Three or four days after its capture it appeared to be completely recovered 

 from the effects of the hard treatment it had received, and, being carefully sup- 

 plied with fresh sea- water morning and evening, a sufticiency of food evidently 

 was afforded. It assumed many shapes — sometimes it would contract itself into 

 an oval disk, not one half of its usual length, lying at the bottom of the glass ; at 

 at this time all its suckers disappeared, and it was perfectly passive and still ; 

 again it would suddenly elongate and inflate itself, push out its suckers to their 

 full length, and set off and creep round the glass in a spiral direction, and, having 

 placed itself in a position horizontal to the surface of the water, suddenly lower 

 its mouth and protrude its tentacles in the graceful manner described, and con- 

 tinue this operation for more than an hour. When it had satisfied itself, it would 

 again descend, and lie at the bottom of the glass ; but it invariably ascended 

 when it required food. Sometimes it would be found half way down the glass, 

 but then it would be torpid. 



•* I could not determine whether it preferred day or night for feeding, but I 

 noted that, very shortly after the fresh water was given, it commenced its tour 

 to the top of the glass ; there it remained until it satisfied itself, and then de- 

 scended. 



'♦ After six weeks passed in this manner, a change came over the poor captive 

 which foreboded evil. It became very languid, seldom went to the top, and when 

 it did protrude its tentacles, it was found that the beautiful canary colour was 

 passing away, and that a dirty brown was substituted — the symptoms of languor 

 increased for a week to such an extent that I thought it was dead, but still sup- 

 plied it with fresh sea-water, in hopes of preserving life. In a day or so, on 

 looking into the glass, I found that a strange occurrence had taken place — the 

 animal was reduced to one-half its size. This arose from its having thrown off 

 its mouth or dental circle, with all its tentacles and appendages, and which lay 

 near the body ; or, in other words, that it had thrown off that organ which in 

 other animals would represent the head, but that it still lived; and the rudiment 

 of a similar organ was visible where the other had been separated ; the animal 

 lingered for a few €iays k>Bger, and then died. I preserved its remains ia spirits, 



