aiNi - 



tin- shell, and sometimes l>\ t)i<- nva consolidated in a ring, us a inaany 

 circular wall around tin- nrilice. These parts are composed wlmlh 1 

 spherical ..\a. Plate XXXI.. lL'. \> : Plate XXXII. Bg. 5, ova. Tin's 

 iivariiiiu i> fn-^uently far advanced in tin- month of April. 



Tin' Kchinus. it' uninjured, is not of ditlicult preservation. It is a 

 bold, liiTiv. anil voracious animal, tin- inveterate enemy of whatever it 

 can overcome, ami greedily devouring all that comes in itu way, -\en 

 \\hat Mvins secure from asstult : notliin^ lia> any chance of encttjx ! 



in-\ i witnessed such an in.sitiabK\ such a nnivcrxtl appftitr. l-'i^li. 

 flush, zoophytes, algaa, and lin-i, an- all accepted, and a hearty meal can 

 IM- made of jiure >hell. It ir- not to l>e doubted,, as the larger testacea art- 

 rvadily devoured. othoi> with their helpless in mate* become easy victims. 



An Kchinus of moderate -i/e having sci/i-d a small living crab the 

 victim seemed to IK- paralysed by simple contact, nor did it ofler an\ i< 

 . i it- ter<ici<ms foe. Another KchinuH, about fifteen line's in dia- 



:. fasteiiml it- extended suckers on a small lobster, a yafal/n-n. Hut 

 the latter, directing "lie of its claws with suflicient dexterity, cut the 

 suckers asunder, and fni-d itself from the- assailant's deadly grasp. 



The Kchinus M.VIIIS to have a natural propensity to destroy. Those 

 not a quarter of an inch in diameter will tear leaves in fragment*. 



In some wanner climates, where certain species retreat occasionally 

 from deeper water, persons frequenting the shore are liable to severe in- 

 juries of their feet from the spines. Kxamples are said to be known of 

 limbs being thus lost. 



The Echinus is reputed to have been converted to food by tin- 

 ancients, but this practice can be scarcely said to have descended, unless 



partially, to modern times. 



I have heard nevertheless that the animal was formerly brought to 

 the Edinburgh market for the sake of the roe, which was employed for 

 culinary purposes. 



\\ know that one species has been denominated Echinus ///>, 

 which indicates that it ha* been truly con-nmed as food, and some 

 naturalists identify it with the subject of the present paragraph. Mr 

 Waring, in his entertaining Letters from Malta and Sicily in 1834, 



K 



