Page:Sea and River-side Rambles in Victoria.djvu/82

63 the cliffs at Portland Bay (p. 60,) there are no teeth, and they subsist on the animal substances contained in the mud on which they feed, and in which they live. There is something intensely grotesque in the habit which some of the Starfishes have, as we already have remarked, of wriggling themselves about until scarcely anything is left, as much as to say, "very well, if you are determined to persecute us, we have made up our minds that you shall have as little for your pains as possible." There is an immense deal of spitefulness in the whole operation. What next, we exclaim? Are we to see a realisation of Forbes' vignette, where an aged Ophiurus is leading out one of his own race, of tender years and of different sex, to dance ashore to the music of some water elf or other, comfortably seated on a pookawn—qui salt?

But in spite of this propensity, the majority of the Starfishes may be preserved without much difficulty; if brought home in seawater they will expand themselves, and they should then be plunged quickly into a basin of cold fresh water, when they will die so rapidly as not to have time either for consideration, or for breaking themselves into pieces, and Forbes (British Starfishes, p. 32,) recommends that after remaining in this freshwater for an hour or so, they should be dipped, for an instant only, into boiling water, and then dried in the sun or a current of air. The Sea Urchins may also be plunged into cold water, (hot loosens their spines), the dental apparatus carefully removed, and the animal disembowelled with the aid of a piece of stick to which a wad of cotton wool is attached, and frequently rinsed until perfectly sweet,