The Starfish and Its Kindred 67 



— and will hardly refuse anything which the taint of 

 putrefaction has not made offensive. Although I have 

 never observed them to touch marine plants even when 

 starving, I have had no trouble in feeding healthy in- 

 dividuals in various stages of growth pieces of apple, 

 pear, and other acid fruits; provisions strange and 

 foreign to their natural larder. But, also like the full- 

 grown animals, the little ones prefer living food. This 

 they find chiefly among the young barnacles and mussels 

 and other small shellfish. 



Were it not for the gruesomeness of the operation, 

 the manner in which they open the shells of their vic- 

 tims would excite admiration; for their perseverance is 

 without parallel. Indeed, to one who knows the star- 

 fish only as an inactive, harmless, beach ornament, it 

 will come as a surprise to learn that it can pull apart 

 the valves of any shellfish its arms can encompass. The 

 method is always the same. Straddling a bivalve, it 

 humps itself high in the center, and fastens its hundreds 

 of suckerlike tube feet to both valves. Then com- 

 mences a steady pull. It is in reality a tug of war: the 

 victim in the one case exerting its strength to keep its 

 compartment tight-closed, and the starfish in the other 

 slowly straining to force it ooen; but the starfish always 

 wins. The luckless occupant cannot endure the con- 

 stant pull. The starfish seemingly is tireless and finally 

 the shell gapes open. Then an amazing act takes place. 

 From out of its mouth the starfish protrudes its 

 stomach, and envelops the animal within the shell. 

 Nor does it withdraw this remarkable organ until its 

 prey has been fully digested. 



This concludes the essential part of my observations 



