EXPERIMENTAL LESSONS. » 



They were furnished with sketches of the water system, which 

 they reproduced, and also of the spines with their accompanying 

 snappers or pedicellariae. In the sketch there were two only of these, 

 one on either side of the spine, hence many of the children thought 

 this was their natural number, when of course there are seveial to 

 each spine. 



The best drawings were by Harry S. Chandler and Harry H. 

 Kellev, and are reproduced on a separate plate. 



The thinking questions which 1 put upon the board were as fol- 

 lows, all of which were correctly answered in most cases. 



Is the starfish as a whole useful or injurious to mankind? 



Is it beneficial in any degree? 



Is a starfish likely to be eaten by a fish or any other marine 

 animal ? 



The Star-fish, By Loexa Snowman. Age 13. 



The star-fish belongs to a family of Radiates, why they aie called ra- 

 diates is because they have a decided center with rays projecting from it. 

 The star-fish gets its name star because it is the shape of a star with five 

 rays. 



Star-fishes are found all along the coast of North America, the farther 

 north the smaller they are. In Maine some are small and their color is 

 scarlet. In the Bahama Islands the starfishes are large. I have seen a 

 black one that came from there. 



The star-fishes do not always have five rays, some have four, and about 

 one in every hundred has six rays, one in every thousand has seven rays, 

 and to compare the eight rayed ones, there is usually one in every ten 

 thousand. 1 have seen one with four rays, but there was one budding : I 

 mean by budding a little new one is growing which will sometime be as 

 large as the others. 



The names of the rays are as I explain to you. You will find what is 

 called a strainer on the upper surface. Hold the star-fish with the strainer 

 toward you, the ray directiy in front of you is the anterior, the one at the 

 right is the right anterior, the one at the left is the left anterior. The 

 others are the right and left prosterior. 



The first thing you would notice on the star-fish's upper surface are 

 spines. They cover the body, and on each side of the spines are a pair of 

 snappers which keep the body clean. If some dirt should fall on the middle 

 of the fish, the snappers would pass it from one to the other until it got to 

 the edge and then it drops off. The star-fish has two skins and between 

 the skins are stony plates, and the spines project up from these plates 

 through the skin. The surface between the spines is covered with tentacle^ 



