OPHIURID&. 



2/5 



at the same time they constitute a series of living thread-like weapons 

 which seem intended to seize and close upon the animals which 

 serve as prey to these little flesh-eaters. The Asterophyton verru- 

 cosum, which is represented in Fig. no, is yellowish ; its disc about 

 four inches, its arms sixteen to eighteen ; it inhabits the Indian 

 Ocean. Another species, A. arborescens, is met with on the coasts 

 of Sicily and other parts of the Mediterranean. Nothing can be 



Fig. in, Acrocladia mamillata (Lamarck), natural size. 





more elegant than these animated discs, which resemble nothing so 

 much as a delicate piece of lace a piece of living lace moving in 

 delicate festoons in the bosom of the ocean. 



ECHINID^E. 



The singular shape of the Echinidse, or Sea-urchins (PLATE VIII.), 

 and the spiny armature with which their bodies are covered, has in all 

 ages attracted the attention of naturalists. Aristotle applied to them 

 the name <=x'" *> which signifies urchin. When, however, one sees the 

 body of one of these animals thrown on the sea-shore, it is difficult, 



