50 HOMES UNDER THE SEA. 



evident that the creature must have directed its course 

 to its food. 



Fishermen when they find a starfish devouring their 

 bait, always tear it asunder and fling the halves into the 

 sea. It is a very foolish thing to do, for, like many 

 animals of low organization, the starfish can reproduce 

 the missing portions, and so each half becomes a separate 

 starfish. 



Even if all the rays be torn asunder, each of them will 

 throw out four more arms, and so in process of time 

 look as if nothing had happened to it. An example of 

 this curious faculty is shoAvn in the accompanying illus- 

 tration, Fig. 3. 



Lobsters, as most of us know, can reproduce a missing 

 limb, even when they have lost a claw almost as large as 

 the rest of the body. But if torn asunder they die, the 

 restorative power being limited to the limbs. 



An interesting experiment can easily be tried, which 

 will show how well the creature can direct its course. 



Put a starfish into shallow sea-water a rock-pool is 

 the best place and watch the direction in which it begins 

 to move. Now, place in its course a couple of large stones 

 from one to two inches apart, according to the size of the 

 starfish. 



Until it arrives at the narrow passage formed by the 

 stones, it crawls with all its rays widely spread. But, 

 as soon as it comes to the stones, it knows how to act. 

 Without stopping for a moment, it pushes one ray 

 between the stones, and goes quietly gliding on. As 



