222 SEASIDE DIVINITY. 



secured a specimen or two of each of these great 

 families of the Echinodermata, and that he is 

 desirous to examine their structure, we can assure 

 him that his labour will be amply repaid by the 

 results of such investigation. 



Let him first examine his specimen of the 

 Asteriadce, by the aid of the description now to 

 be given of these peculiar inhabitants of the sea- 

 shore. 



The star-fishes then or Asteriadce (aster, a 

 star), have their bodies divided generally into five 

 lobes' or rays, more or less elongated. In some 

 cases the rays form the points of five angles, 

 into which the body is divided. The upper sur- 

 face of these rays is protected by a very thin 

 skin, which seems to the touch as if filled with a 

 soft pulpy substance. The lower surface, how- 

 ever, is much more complex in structure. From 

 the centre to the point of each ray runs a groove 

 or channel, lined on each side by two walls of 

 shelly matter, which form part of the skeleton of 

 the little animals. In each of these channels are 

 a multitude of suckers. These suckers are placed 

 on the ends of transparent footstalks; they 

 serve the double purpose of hand and foot, 

 enabling the star-fish to move from place to 

 place, seize upon its food, or to attach itself to 

 one spot. Each of these feet, thus terminated 

 by a sucker, issues from a hole in the groove 

 already spoken of. Each foot is formed by a tube 

 filled with liquid, which is injected into it from 

 a gland at its base by means of muscular pres- 



