300 MEADFOOT AND THE STARFISH. 



little else to be obtained in this condition of the tide, 

 I determine to spend a half-hour in gaining a closer 

 acquaintance with it here. So I seize it, and dragging 

 it from its many-footed hold of the rock by main 

 violence, not without amputation of some of the 

 suckers, which will tear apart sooner than relinquish 

 their grasp, I bear it away in triumph, seeking a con- 

 venient theatre for the display of its powers and per- 

 formances. 



Here is a little basin, chiselled, by frost and wave 

 combined, out of the rough rock ; it is half full of 

 clear water, left by the retiring tide, but seems ten- 

 antless so far as animal life is concerned, though two 

 or three dwarfed and stunted Algce are growing from 

 its edge and dipping their frond-tips into the water. 

 Into this I drop my captive, nothing loath ; he sinks 

 like a stone to the bottom, alighting on his back ; and 

 there he lies sprawling, with the suckers protruding 

 to their utmost, doubtless seeking to " realise " the 

 conditions of his new whereabouts. Soon one or two 

 of the arms begin to curve their extremities under, so 

 that the suckers can touch the rocky bottom ; then 

 the curvature rapidly increases, and at length the 

 whole creature sluggishly turns over, and he is all 

 right again, pied a terre. 



It is the common Starfish, Crossfish, or Five- 

 finger of the fisherrnen of various parts of our coast, 

 the Uraster or Asteracantliion rubens of zoologists, 

 the most familiar example we possess of the class 

 Echinodermata. It is, withal, one of our largest 



