ECHINODERMS. 



51 



at any part of the body. In preparing specimens they frequently prove 

 very inconvenient, for they may be so violent as to break the animal into 

 several pieces. 



Sea-cucumbers are hardly more important from an economic point of 

 view than are the other members of the group of Echinoderms. In tin- 

 tropical seas they play a part in the 

 building of coral islands, for they feed 

 on the coral fragments for the sake of 

 the contained organisms, and thus far- 

 ther comminute it and prepare it for 

 an element of soil. In the far East 

 they also form an important dietary 

 element. In the southern portion of 

 China " trepang " is an essential ele- 

 ment in the preparation of soup, and 

 the trade in it is very considerable. 

 The price paid varies from seven to 

 fifty cents a pound, according to the 

 quality, and upwards of four hundred 

 tons, valued at $100,000, are annu- 

 ally brought to the market. Trepang 

 is merely dried sea-cucumbers, or, as 

 they are called, " beche-de-mer." Ine 



trade is nOW almost wholly in the Fig. 49. — Synapta, with some of its anchors and 



. plates enlarged. 



hands of the Malays, though in former 



years it was largely controlled by the sea-captains of Salem, Mass. Every 

 year a large fleet of vessels sets sail from Macassar and the Philippines to 

 the Fijis, and other islands of the South Seas, for their lading of beche- 

 de-mer. Arrived at their destination, the fishing begins, being carried on 

 by spearing and by diving. "When caught the sea-cucumbers are split 

 open, boiled, and then placed on bamboo frames to dry in the sun. "W hen 

 thoroughly dry they are smoked over a fire of green wood, and then packed 

 in bags for transportation to the Chinese market. 



The dried and smoked sea-cucumbers are ''trepang," and supply the 

 place of gelatine in the soups of the East. When cooked they swell up, 

 and finally dissolve to a large extent. To the European palate trepang 

 soup is not over-savory, for the smoky taste is very strong. 



