SEA-HEDGEHOGS. 121 



in the most gentle manner, to introduce Luidia to the purer ele- 

 ment. Whether the cold air was too much for him, or the sight 

 of the bucket too terrific, I know not ; but, in a moment, he pro- 

 ceeded to dissolve his corporation, and, at every mesh of the dredge, 

 his fragments were seen escaping. In despair, I grasped at the 

 largest, and brought up the extremity of an arm with its termi- 

 nating eye, the spinuous eyelid of which opened and closed with 

 something exceedingly like a wink of derision." 



The most ambitious owner of an Aquarium will hardly be 

 very sanguine of adding Luidia to his stock of " marine stores ;" 

 but, as Mr. Lloyd, the spirited dealer in aquarian objects, has 

 chosen it as his crest, and has thus "fet to his seal" that the 

 thing may be done, it may be that we shall yet succeed in in- 

 ducing the sensitive beauty to make himself at home in our 

 crystal enclosures. 



If you bend the rays of a Star-fish under the disc, so that the 

 sides may meet, you will form a sort of spherical or orange-shaped 

 box, and see how an ordinary Star-fish is transformed into an 

 Echinus, or Sea-hedgehog, another of the spiny-skinned frater- 

 nity, which belongs to the pets of the Aquarium. Like its 

 namesake of the furze-brake and the hedge-row, the Echinus 

 has its coat thickly beset with prickles, which need be delicately 

 handled, if you would avoid their points. Each of these spines 

 is attached, by a kind of ball and socket-joint, to a little tuber- 

 cle on the shell of the Echinus, and as the whole of them move 

 freely in every direction, they enable the animal to get out of 

 harm's way when it pleases, by burying itself in the sand. They 

 also assist in locomotion ; but for this purpose the Echinus is pro- 

 vided with far more efficient organs in the shape of long tubular 

 suckers, like those of the Star-fish, which issue from minute 

 orifices in the shell, and, extending beyond the spines, enable 

 the Echinus to creep along the shore, or climb the rocks in 

 search of its diminutive crust-covered prey. 



The spherical box which forms the shell of the Echinus is an 

 exceedingly curious structure. It is made up of an immense 

 multitude of five-sided pieces, arranged in regular rows, five pairs 

 of which are pierced with minute orifices for the protrusion of the 

 delicate worm-like suckers, while the remainder are studded with 

 tubercles for the attachment of the spines. The plates all fit 

 together with the greatest accuracy, and give the shell the appear- 



