FOREST, FISH AXD GAME COMMISSIONER. 125 



descending through the water. The water will of course slack the lime, but 

 Mr. Pausch states that so long as the lime barrier remains intact no starfish 

 will cross it. He has experimented quite extensively in this direction, and 

 [ the opinion that the results attained will warrant the use of his methods 

 upon a large scale. One of his tests consists of placing starfish within 

 lime enclosures, and though kept there for considerable periods of time not 

 one will attempt to cross the line which separates it from freedom. 



Mr. Pausch says that the lime barrier constitutes a veritable dead line 

 for the sea star. He considers the use of paper bags a somewhat clumsy 

 plan for getting the lime to the bottom, and is now engaged in perfecting 

 an apparatus by means of which he may feed the lime through a hose 

 or pipe so drawn over the ground as to leave an unbroken ridge of the 

 material on the bottom. 



A gentleman connected with the scientific department of one of our 

 great institutions of learning has, at the request of the writer, undertaken 

 to make an exhaustive study of the starfish, its habits, its life history and 

 of the enemies to which it is subject, with a view of finding some practicable 

 method of exterminating, in large numbers, this terror of the oyster planter. 



Many different theories have been advanced concerning the manner in 

 which the star attacks the oyster. In the light of recent investigation, how- 

 ever, there seems to be no doubt that he, by a strong and continued pull, 

 forces the valves open. Upon the under sides of the rays or fingers of the 

 star are rows of suckers, and, after embracing or encompassing the oyster 

 with these fingers, he attaches the suckers and applies a steady straining 

 pull in opposing directions, maintaining the strain until the muscle in the 

 shellfish, which serves to hold the shells closed, gives way, the valves open, 

 and the oyster surrenders. Thereupon the star pushes forward his stomach 

 between the shells and absorbs the oyster. 



It must not be supposed that the capture of one oyster will satisfy the 

 hunger of a starfish for any length of time. On the contrary, he is rela- 

 tively one of the most voracious monsters of the sea, and pursues his depre- 

 dations almost unceasingly. The vast numbers with which the star over- 

 whelms the shellfish beds, taken in connection with his insatiable appetite, 

 make it clear that nothing but eternal vigilance on the part of the planter 

 will hold the day against him. 



