202 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



of one of these creatures lying helpless upon the 

 beach 



" Like the corpse of an outcast abandon'd to weather " 

 that there was anything attractive about it ? Who 

 would dream, on seeing them heaped in cartloads and 

 carried off for manure, as we have sometimes done, 

 that they possessed a delicacy of sense and a perfec- 

 tion of movement almost unparalleled in creation? 

 We must examine these Star-fishes under more fa- 

 vourable circumstances if we would appreciate them 

 properly. 



The Asterias is provided with long rays, which 

 issue immediately from the parts round the mouth, 

 for there is no definite central disc, although the 

 body is thick and compact ; the rays, indeed, may be 

 said rather to fork from each other than to issue from 

 a centre. They are stout and taper, convex above 

 and flattened beneath, terminating by many slender 

 suckers at their extremities ; besides which, there is a 

 channel in the under surface, with rows of suckers, 

 stronger, more numerous, and of larger dimensions, 

 serving as feet, both in progression and for fixture. 



The Northern Sea-star, the species most common 

 upon some of our coasts, is among the largest, the 

 most powerful and ravenous of its kind, sometimes 

 measuring, when completely expanded, twelve inches 

 between the tips of the opposite rays. The colour is 

 extremely variable, but usually purplish or greyish. 

 Purple seems to be the natural colour, although when 

 very young it is met with cream-coloured, or even 

 white. 



