ITS PROGRESSION. 303 



ing only a solitary example of these structures ; but 

 there are hundreds of them, all the exact counterparts 

 of each other, wielded at the same moment by the 

 Starfish. Thus the power exerted, feeble in each 

 isolated case, becomes very great in its accumulation ; 

 and when the animal has brought a dozen or twenty 

 of its suckers out, and having stretched them forward 

 to the utmost towards a certain point, has firmly 

 attached each, and begins to pull upon them, relaxing 

 at the same moment those which have been attached 

 behind, the whole body, heavy as it seems, is easily 

 dragged up toward the point of resistance. The 

 action is just analogous to that by which a ship's 

 crew, having carried out a couple of anchors a-head, 

 tighten the cables, and, by means of the windlass, warp 

 up the vessel to the anchor's place. The Starfish's 

 progression is a constant succession of such warpings, 

 with the advantage of a large number of anchors and 

 cables to work upon at the same time. 



Thus I have got a good half-hour's entertainment 

 and instruction out of my captive : and now, leav- 

 ing him to comfort himself in his rock-pool till the 

 quickly rising tide covers him once more, I wend my 

 pleasant way homeward in the cool of the afternoon. 



