204 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



rior, whereby the bulk of these creatures is consider- 

 ably increased, and their specific gravity consequently 

 diminished in the same proportion. 



However firmly a Star-fish may be adherent by 

 means of its suckers to a foreign body, its hold is im- 

 mediately loosed on depriving it of the surrounding 

 water, so that if any of the vessels containing them 

 be emptied, they soon fall from the sides to the 

 bottom. In this way, without using the slightest 

 violence, which is always productive of injury, the ani- 

 mals are brought under the readiest control, for when 

 deprived of their native element they are helpless. 



In their natural state, these Star-fishes are disposed 

 to crawl into fissures in the rocks for protection during 

 the ebb of the tide, or they creep underneath stones 

 or into shells, anywhere where a little water may 

 chance to be retained. 



The fishermen of some districts entertain an in- 

 veterate antipathy to the Star-fishes, from a rooted 

 belief that they are particularly destructive to oysters. 

 They find them, they say, in the very fact actually 

 within the shells devouring the contents ; an accusa- 

 tion leading to indiscriminate vengeance against the 

 imagined offenders. The ancients indeed tell us 

 dreadful tales concerning the destruction of oysters 

 by these rapacious gormandizers, and nevertheless 

 their truth still remains problematical, for certainly it 

 is by no means evident at first sight how the alleged 

 warfare can be carried on, or how the inhabitants of 

 such large shells can be either reached or extracted. 

 Sir John Dalyell seems inclined to question the reality 

 of such a proceeding, arguing, that though the fisher- 



