Biblioyraphical Notices. 131 



has been emptied, will bear testimony to the fidelity of the following 

 description : — 



" Of all our native Brittle-stars this is the most common and the most va- 

 riable. It is also one of the handsomest, presenting evei-y variety of varie- 

 gation, and the most splendid displays of vivid hncs arranged in beautifnl 

 patterns. Not often do we find two specimens colonred alike. It varies also 

 in the length of the ray-spines, the spinonsness of the disk, and the i-elative 

 proportions of rays and disk ; and in some places it grows to a much greater 

 size than in others. It is the most brtttle of all Brittle- stars, separating 

 itself into pieces with wonderful quickness and ease. Touch it, and it flings 

 away an arm ; hold it, and in a moment not an arm remains attached to the 

 body." 



The notice of this species is most appropriately concluded by a 

 vignette representing a portion of one of its spines, which, as it is 

 justly observed, exhibits " a structure, the lightness and beauty of 

 which might serve as a model for the spire of a cathedral." 



We next come to the Asteeiad.^;, or true Starfishes, an order 

 whose beauty and symmetry seems to have " attracted the attention 

 of such observers of nature as dwelt by the sea-side, from a very 

 early period." 



" A fanciful analogy between the form of these Radiata and the popular 

 notion of a star, has originated a name applied to them in most maritime 

 countries, — a name which has given rise to a fine thought or two. ' As 

 there are stars in the sky, so are there stars in the sea,' is Linck's first 

 sentence. * Coelornm spectare sidera decet juvatque Astronomos: Physi- 

 corum interest stellis marinis visum intendere,' saith Christian Gabriel 

 Fischer in his preface to Linck's volume. Our own poet, James Montgomery, 

 whose inspiration has revelled gloriously among the wonders of Nature, 

 beautifully expresses the same anology, 



' The heavens 

 Were throng'd with constellations, and the seas 

 Strown with their images.' " 



The order Asteriadce contains fourteen British species, distributed 

 into eight genera, two of which, Solaster and Lnidia, are established 

 by our author. The Cribella rosea comes forward for the first time 

 as a British species ; Uraster glacialis is figured for the first time 

 from a British specimen, and Goniaster Templetoni appeared pre- 

 viously only in Mr. Forbes's paper in the ' Wernerian Memoirs.' 

 The following important observation occurs in p. 82 : — 



" It is a remarkable fact, one which I have elsewhere pressed on the at- 

 tention of geologists when considering the Mollusca, that whenever, as in 

 the Hebrides, the tides fall but a few feet, these animals, usually inhabitants 

 of deep water, maybe found living above low-water mark. This holds good 

 as well in regard to Radiata as to Moilusca ; and the mixture of species gene- 

 rally considered inhabitants of the depths of the sea, with ti'uly littoral spe- 

 cies, should a fossi! bed be formed, might lead to false conclusions unless 

 such fact be borne in mind. Thus a change in the tides of a line of coost 

 would materially affect its fauna." 



"The Solasters," we are told, " are suns in the systems of Sea- 

 stars. Their many rays and brilliant hues give them a distinguished 

 place among the marine constellations." The structure of the eye- 

 lid is described in p. 113 ; it forms a very perfect protection to the 

 K2 



