ASTERIA> 107 



I'nder the microscope the outline of the tuft- tended to cylindrical : 

 and each was apparently composed of fourteen or sixteen c\liudcrs, which 

 are not .-month. Tin- .-liort cylindrical t ubes appeared to be soft and 

 fleshy. In -ome places they were intcr-per-cd irregularly with tin- tuft-, 

 and iu other places, one tube stood regularly amidst four tufts. The 

 madreporiforni tulx'rcle, \v.i- ritM MUri rur taftft An . ,,1. ,,._-,, | 

 view of it is pr.-.-nted by fig. 4, where other tufts arc also seen ; nnd :i 

 portion magnified is shewn fig. 5. 



Here the ocular speck nt the extremity of the ray is dork reddish- 

 hrown. It is neither compact nor uniform under the higher microscopi- 

 cal powers, hut apparently more solid towards the middle, while parts of 

 the ciiruiii! <>nsi>t of minute specks, fig. 3. 



On March 27. I found forty or fifty ova floating near the surface of 

 the water of a vessel containing a specimen of between seven or eight 

 inehe> diameter, which had been a week in my possession. These ova 

 were of a fine reddish -orange colour, solid and consistent, nearly globu- 

 lar, but some beginning to relax in form. On transferring the specimen 

 to another vessel, a few more ova were produced, and here thirty or 

 forty others escaped on the following day : Fig. 6, ova ; fig. 7, group 

 enlarged. 



Some had a slight depression in the centre, like an orange, and the 

 figure of others tended to ovoidal. All seemed fresh, smooth, and they 

 were of vivid colour. 



Selecting a number, I consigned them to five different vessels. But 

 I was disappointed of the progeny, as none proved prolific. 



This animal sometimes feeds readily. When doing so mussel is con- 

 sumed ; however, many refuse food entirely. A fine specimen, expand- 

 ing just about two inches, of beautiful reddish-orange colour above, and 

 yellowish below, fed readily on the common leptu when detached from 

 ite aite. The Star-fish, involving the prey among its limbs, extracted 

 the contents of the shell. Plate XIX., figs. 7, 8. 



The A*teria endeca has not been common in any place that I have 

 visited ; nor has it survived long in confinement. 



The specimen, Plate XXII., was originally very weak, but from 



