8 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, October 2, 1860. 
made to callus, and then be made to grow. Apples, Peaches, 
Cherries, and Plums, are now freely struck, by several in our 
immediate vicinity, from cuttings ; and many kinds of trees, 
once thought impossible to propagate in that way, are now raised 
so very freely. 
In our own experiments we have found a common preserving 
bottle excellent for callusing hard cuttings. A sponge is pushed 
tightly into the bottom of the bottle, and water poured on. 
Then all the water is drained out that will go out, by inverting 
the bottle, and the cuttings placed loosely in. No cork is placed 
in the bottle, and evaporation takes place slowly, and the cutting 
soon forms the desired callus. 
The whole secret, in fact, is in allowing free access of air to all 
parts of the cutting, at the same time taking care that evaporation 
shall not be so excessive as to dry up the cuttings.— {American 
Gardeners' Monthly.) 
WHAT TO LOOK FOR OH THE SEASHORE. 
{Continued from page 390, Vol. XXIV.) 
Echinodermata {Continued). 
Goniasterije. 
The third group of the Asteriadse, so called from the angular 
outline of the creatures composing it; which appearance is caused 
by the distances between the rays being filled up by broad lobes 
or membranes. 
The Bird’s-foot Sea Star {Palmipes memlranaceus). —This 
is a very remarkable species, and is the flattest and thinnest of 
all its class. Whtjn alive it is flexible, and very much resembles 
a piece of leather in that respect. It is in colour white, having a 
red centre and five red rays proceeding from the disk to the 
angles, the margin being in most cases bordered with red also. 
The upper surface of this Star Fish is covered with spine-bearing 
tubercles ; but they are not arranged on all the parts alike—on 
the white portion, for instance, they occur in regular rows, the 
larger ones being near the disc, being very minute on the 
margin ; whereas on the red disc and on the rays they are 
irregularly placed, much smaller and closer together. Each 
marginal row of tubercles has a tuft of spines at its extremity 
which project beyond the outline of the body. These spines are 
sharp, short, and very numerous. In size it averages about five 
or six inches in diameter. The Bird’s-foot Sea Star, although 
long known as a British specimen, is somewhat rare, although 
they are frequently taken in deep water by dredging. The Irish 
Sea, off the coast of the Isle of Man, would seem to be a favour* 
able locality for finding them; but they may be met with ofi 
Weymouth, also on the Cornish coast, and on the coast of Ayr¬ 
shire in Scotland. 
The Gibbous Starlet {Asterina giblosa). —The gibbous or 
humped Starlet is the smallest of the British Asteriadse—a large 
specimen only measirring an inch in diameter. Professor Forbes 
states that the largest he ever saw was but one inch five lines 
across. It is widely distributed on the English coasts, although, 
it seems to be more attached, if not entirely confined, to the 
western and southern portions. The body of this animal is 
pentangular, with the angles produced on the upper surface. It 
is covered with tufts of short thick spines, varying in number 
from two to six in each tuft. These tufts are placed in regular 
rows—those on the rays proceeding from the disc to the angles* 
In colour it is most commonly of a greenish yellow, occasionally 
tinged with red, and sometimes of a brownish tint. The localities 
which the gibbous Starlet chiefly affects are, as before stated, to 
the west and south of Great Britain. For instance: in England 
it is found off Cornwall, among the limestone rocks of the Isle 
of Man on the ebbing of the tide, and in Herne, one of the 
Channel Islands. In Scotland it is met with on the gneiss 
shores of R#ss-shire; and in Ireland all round the coast indis¬ 
criminately, among the rooks at low water ; such, indeed, seeming 
to be its favourite haunt in every locality. This species is never 
to be taken by the dredge. 
Templeton’s Cushion Star {Goniaster Templetoni). —The 
Cushion Star has a very convex body. When alive it is very 
smooth and slippery, but on being dried it becomes grained and 
reticulated. It is quite destitute of true spines, with the exception 
of a very few at the angles; but in their place the surface is 
provided here and there with little sharp spinules, which are 
described as the remains of certain small stalks, which give to 
the living creature a curious shaggy appearance. The eyes, 
which are situated on the under part of the Cushion Star, are 
also unprotected by spines. The colour of this species is very 
rich and beautiful. It is a bright scarlet above and straw colour 
beneatli: the upper surface is occasionally marked with a dusky 
white. The largest specimen which has come under the hands 
of Professor Forbes measured three inches and a half across, 
although in ordinary instances it is little more than half that 
size. Templeton’s Cushion Star appears to be chiefly an Irish, 
species; although it has been found in Bute and Arran, on 
the Ayrshire coast, and on the shores of Orkney. It has also 
been dredged on the north-west coast of the Isle of Man, where 
it lives among the scallops in deep water. 
The Knotty Cushion Star {Goniaster equestns). —This is, 
one of the most beautiful of our native Star Fishes, and at the 
| these plates are placed smooth tubercular spines, varying from 
