a, 
HOMOLOGIES. 229 
modifications. of the locomotive suckers of the 
Star-Fishes and Sea-Urchins, but ramifying to 
such an extent as to assume the form of branch- 
ing feelers. The little tufts projecting from the 
oral side in the Sea-Urchins, described as gills, 
are another form of the same kind of appendage. 
The Holothurians have not the hard, brittle 
surface of the other Echinoderms; on the-con- 
trary, their envelope is tough and leathery, ca- 
pable of great coritraction and dilatation. No 
idea can be formed of the beauty of these 
animals. either from dried specimens or from 
those preserved in alcohol. Of course, in either 
case, they lose their color, become shrunken, and 
the movable appendages about the mouth shrivel 
up. One who had seen Holothurians only as 
preserved in museums would be amazed at the 
spectacle of the living animal, especially if his first 
introduction should be to one of the deep, rich 
crimson-colored species, such as are found in quan- 
tities in the Bay of Fundy. I have seen such an 
animal, when first thrown into a tank of sea-water, 
remain for a while closely contracted, looking 
like a soft crimson ball. Slowly, almost imper- 
ceptibly, as it becomes accustomed to its new 
position, it begins to elongate ; the fringes creep 
softly out, spreading gradually all their ramifica- 
tions, till one end of the animal seems crowned 
with feathery, crimson sea-weeds of the most 
