832 



A HISTORY OF 



CHAPTER CXCVIII. 



OF THE STAR-FISH. 



THE next order of zoophytes is that of 

 the star-fish, a numerous tribe, shapeless and 

 deformed, assuming at different times dif- 

 ferent appearances. The same animal that 

 now appears round like a ball, shortly after 

 flattens as thin as a plate. All of this kind 

 are formed of a semi-transparent gelatinous 

 substance, covered with a thin membrane, 

 and to an inattentive spectator often appear 

 like a lump of inanimate jelly, floating at ran- 

 dom upon the surface of the sea, or thrown 

 by. chance on shore at the departure of the 

 tide. But upon a more minute inspection, 

 they will be found possessed of life and mo- 

 tion ; they will be found to shoot forth their 

 arms ,\n .every direction, in order to seize 

 upon such insects as are near, and to devour 

 them with great rapaeky. Worms, the spawn 

 of fish, and even muscles themselves, with 

 their hard resisting shell, have been found in 

 the stomachs of these voracious animals; and 

 what is very extraordinary, though the sub- 

 stance of their own bodies be almost as soft 

 as water, yet they are no way injured by 

 swallowing these shells, which are almost of 

 a stony hardness. They increase in size as 

 all other animals do. In summer, when the 

 water of the sea is warmed by the heat of 

 the sun, they float upon the surface, and in 

 (lie dark they send forth a kind of shining 

 light resembling that of phosphorus. Some 

 h.ive given these aitinaals tlie name of sea- 

 nettles, because they burn the hands of those 

 that touch them, as nettles are found to do. 

 They are often seen fastened to the rocks, 



lorates. In size and appearance it exactly resembles the 

 Ir.iir of a horse's tail ; and, when touched, twists itself into 

 a variety of knot-like contortions, for which reason it has 

 been called the Gordius. The Guinea-worm is shaped 

 something like this, except that the mouth is dilated, and 

 has a roundish concave lip. ft enters the naked arms and 

 legs of the inhabitants of the East and West Indies, sink- 

 ing Jfep into the muscles, and frequently occasioning in- 

 flammation and fever. The Fury Is a still more danger- 



and to the largest sea-shells, as if to derive 

 their nourishment from them. If they be 

 taken and put into spirit of wine, they will 

 continue for many years entire ; but if they 

 be left to the influence of the air, they arc, 

 in less than four and twenty hours, melted 

 down into limpid and offensive water. 



In all of this species, none are found to 

 possess a vent for their excrements; but the 

 same passage by which they devour their 

 food, serves for the ejection of their faeces. 

 These animals, as was said, take such a 

 variety of figures, that it is impossible to de- 

 scribe them under one determinate shape ; 

 but in general their bodies resemble a trun- 

 cated cone, whose base is applied to the rock 

 to which they are found usually attached v 

 Though generally transparent, yet they are 

 found of different colours, some inclining to 

 green, some to red, some to white, and some 

 to brown." In some, their colours appear 

 diffused over the whole surface, in some they 

 are often streaked, and in others often spotted. 

 They are possessed of a very slow progres- 

 sive motion, and in fine weather they are 

 continually seen, stretching out, and fishing 

 for their prey. Many of them are possessed 

 of a number of long slender filaments, in 

 which they entangle any small animals they 

 happen to approach, and thus draw them into 

 their enormous stomachs, which fill the whole 

 cavity of their bodies. The harder shells 

 continue for some weeks undigested, but at 

 length they undergo a kind of maceration in 

 the stomach, and become a part of the sub- 



ous worm, and has on each side a single row of closely 

 pressed reflected prickles. It is found in Finland and the 

 northern parts of Sweden, in marshy places, where it 

 crawls up the steins of sedge-grass and low shrubs; and 

 being wafted by the wind, darts into the naked parts of 

 such as :nav happen to be near it. The celebrated natu- 

 ralist, Sir Ohnrles Linne, was so severely bitten by one of 

 these dreadful animals, that for some time it was doubt- 

 ful whether he would live or die* 



