130 



SELF-AMPUTATION. 



be seen lying immediately beneath, looking more 

 like dark, loose, unformed masses of liver, than 

 mere appendages to the stomach. And it is a 

 very remarkable fact, that although these large 

 and very important organs exist in each ray, the 

 star-fish appears to be indifferent to the loss of 

 one or more rays, and fills up the wounded space 

 so perfectly that it is hardly possible to distin- 

 guish the spot where the ray once was. This 

 circumstance accounts for the fact that star-fishes, 

 apparently perfect, but only possessing four rays, 

 are sometimes met with, whereas the minimum 

 of number is five. When the star-fish has been 

 seen to cast away its rays in captivity, the ampu- 

 tated rays still continued to move their feet- 

 suckers as when they were attached to the body, 

 but they did not appear to be capable of con- 

 tinuing their march. 



Small as the mouth of a star-fish appears to 

 be, small as is its stomach, and feeble as are its 

 muscular powers, it can swallow a bivalve mollusc 

 entire, or if needful, open it, and suck out the 

 contents in some mysterious way; a feat that no 

 man could accomplish without tools. Even with 

 the proper knife, oysters are not very easy to 

 open without some practice ; but if a man's food 

 were restricted to oysters, which he must open 



