AN ANCIENT FAMILY. a 
under surface, and armed with five calcareous 
teeth and strong muscular jaws it is well pre- 
pared to do its work of crushing small crusta- 
ceans and mollusks, which are its food. 
“The starfish is the pretty cousin of the sea 
urchin, and is a ‘lineal descendant’ of the ‘old 
family’ Crinoidee. There is, in fact, an As- 
teria who in its early life adheres to the time- 
- honored custom of its ancestry, and fixed to a 
stalk attaches itself to some graceful seaweed 
or aristocratic coralline. ‘Their bodies, like 
others of this group, are supported by calcare- 
ous envelopes composed of numerous pieces. 
The number of these plates in the Red Sea 
starfish, for example, is estimated to be eleven 
thousand. 
“Our starfish, as you know, has generally 
five rays. Solaster papposus has ordinarily 
thirteen ; another has more than thirty. In 
one variety they are found many feet long. 
“Some starfishes possess the power of grow- 
ing another ray if one be broken off, and the 
one sundered may grow four more and be- 
come starfish ‘No. 2.’ Not only this, but some 
varieties are actually suicidal, flying to pieces 
when taken from the water. 
“The Comatula rosacea, or feathery star, is 
one of the prettiest creatures you can imagine. 
