of spines which projected from each of the many 

 joints comprising those members. Nor did it have a 

 vent. The digested food was excreted through the 

 mouth. And it was in this region, I was informed, 

 that the madreporic plate, or sieve, was to be 

 found. What purpose this served, since the ser- 

 pent-star was devoid of sucker-feet, was not made 

 clear. In the common starfishes, the madreporite is 

 on the animal's back; it acts as a strainer of the 

 water wherewith their multitudinous feet are dis- 

 tended and contracted. But I shall have more to 

 say about this, later. Other details I learned be- 

 sides — too technical or uninteresting for repetition 

 here — and I then essayed to discover what I could 

 on my own account. 



Thus the first thing that struck me was that this 

 animal lives entirely within its own skeleton. No 

 integument or skin of any sort invests its gray cal- 

 careous frame. However, there emanated from each 

 side of the arms, just below the spines, a row of 

 tiny tentacles, or so-called tube-feet — so-called by 

 the books, but their function is not that of walk- 

 ing. The next striking oddity was the utter absence 

 of eyes; nor were there to be found any pigment 



[57] 



