PEDICELLARIJE. 295 



According to a certain writer, there are some 

 foreign species of the Echini remarkable for possess- 

 ing spines, which act both as offensive and defensive 

 weapons. ' On one occasion ' (this writer says) ' when 

 searching for a fish in the crevice of a coral rock, I 

 felt a severe pain in my hand, and upon withdrawing 

 it, found my fingers covered with slender spines, 

 evidently those of the Echinus, of a grey colour, 

 elegantly banded with black. 



* They projected from my fingers like well-planted 

 arrows from a target, and their points being barbed 

 could not be removed, but remained for some weeks 

 imbedded as black specks in the skin. Its concealed 

 situation did not permit me to examine this particu- 

 lar Echinus. In some experiments I approached the 

 spines with so much caution, that had they been the 

 most finely pointed needles in a fixed state no injury 

 could have been received from them, yet their points 

 were always stuck into my hand rapidly and 

 severely/ 



In addition to those above described, the Sea- 

 Urchin is provided with other organs, in shape some- 

 what resembling minute pincers, supported on fleshy 

 stems, which always keep up an incessant motion 

 when the animal is in a healthy condition. They are 

 scattered in great numbers over the surface of the 

 body, among the spines, and around the mouth of 

 the Urchin. 



The use of these singular objects by naturalists 



