LOW LIFE IN TUB SEA. 



05 



velops into a perfect animal with all the parts complete ; 

 so that the self-destruction is but one step in the process of 

 multiplication. 



8. Professor Edward Forbes gives the following account 

 of his efforts to capture a Luidea, one of the rarest species 

 of brittle stars : " The first 



time that I took one of 

 these creatures I succeed- 

 ed in placing it entire in 

 my boat. Not having seen 

 one before, and being ig- 

 norant of its suicidal pow- 

 ers, I spread it out on a 

 rowing-bench, the better 

 to admire its form and 

 colors. On attempting to 

 remove it for preservation, 

 to my surprise and disap- 

 pointment I found only 

 an assemblage of detached 

 members. My conservative endeavors were all neutralized 

 by its destructive exertions ; and the animal is now badly 

 represented in my cabinet by a diskless arm and an armless 

 disk. 



9. "The next time I went to dredge I determined not 

 to be cheated out of my specimen a second time. I carried 

 with me a bucket of fresh water, for which the star-fishes 

 evince a great antipathy. As I hoped, a Luidea came up in 

 the dredge — a most gorgeous specimen. As the animal 

 does not generally break up until it is raised to the surface 

 of the sea, I carefully and anxiously plunged my bucket 

 to a level with the dredge's mouth, and softly introduced 

 the Luidea into the fresh water. Whether the cold was too 

 much for it, or the sight of the bucket too terrific, I do not 

 know ; but in a moment it began to dissolve its corpora- 



Serpent Star-Fish. 



