308 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Description. 



This fish should be taken far out in the sea in 

 order to be preserved whole and undamaged for 

 cabinets, and the fishermen ought to be careful 

 not to break off any of the limbs, and to prevent 

 the animal from contracting and entangling its 

 outer and most slender branches. The fisher- 

 men of the Cape of Good Hope get six, and 

 sometimes even ten rix-dollars for one of these 

 star fish. 



SEA URCHINS. 



THESE inhabitants of the sea, called also sea 

 hedgehogs, are generally round, and shaped like 

 a somewhat flattened ball. Their exterior is a 

 bony crust, usually furnished with movable spines, 

 by which they are defended from injury, and by 

 means of which they have their progressive mo- 

 tion ; these are often very numerous, amounting 

 in some species to upwards of two thousand. 

 The mouth is placed beneath, and in most of 

 the species has five valves or teeth. 



The common sea urchin, which lodges in cavi- 

 ties of rocks just within low-water mark, on most 

 of the British coasts, is nearly of a globular shape, 

 having its shell marked into ten partitions or 

 divisions, not much unlike those of an orange. 

 The mouth is situated in the lower or under part, 

 and armed with five strong and sharpened teeth. 

 The stomach and intestines, which are of consi- 



