154 THE FOOD OF ANIMALS 



by feeding freely on portions of cut-up fish occasionally placed 

 in the tanks." It has been proved that Star-Fishes are largely 

 guided in their hunt for food by the sense of smell, and this is 

 a common characteristic of many scavenging animals. Qn this 

 subject Romanes (in Jelly-Fish, Star-Fish, and Sea-Urchins^ 

 describes his observations in these words: — "The presence of 

 a sense of smell in star-fish was proved by keeping some of 

 these animals for several days in a tank without food and then 

 presenting them with small pieces of shell-fish. The star-fish 

 immediately perceived the proximity of food, as shown by 

 their immediately crawling towards it. Moreover, if a small 

 piece of the food were held in a pair of forceps and gently 

 withdrawn as the star-fish approached it, the animal could be 

 led about the floor of the tank in any direction, just as a hungry 

 dog could be led about by continually withdrawing from his nose 

 a piece of meat as he continually follows it up." 



