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CHAPTER XIV. 
THE STAR-FISHES. 
ONE of the old kings of France said with reason, “ Nature se plait 
en diversité.”’ 
Here are creatures which seem to be constructed by geometry. 
They are the Séar-fish or Asterias. Their resemblance to that 
figure which we call a star has long been recognised by amateurs 
as well as naturalists. The organisation of marine animals is far 
STAR-FISH. 
from being rigorously exact. The creative power seldom or never 
employed lines perfectly straight ; the preference was always given 
to curved and wavy lines; hence the asterias are not constructed 
with exact geometrical accuracy. The star-fishes are animals 
without vertebra; they are generally flattened and pentagonal, 
the branches being nearly equal to each other, and arranged 
symmietrically as rays. These rays are more or less triangular, 
and are invariably five in number. The asterias strew the ground 
of the submarine forests. Sir L. McClintock, when exploring the 
route for a North Atlantic telegraph, found a living star-fish at a 
