Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/592

* STARFISH. 506 STARLING. arms. Most of the species are bisexual; the young usually pass through a metamorphosis, the starfish budding out from the water-vaseular system of the pluteus, bipinnaria, or braehio- laria form, which previously passes through a A PALEOZOIC STARFISH. a, Ventral aspect of Aspidosoma petaloides (Lower T)e- vonian): b. anibulacral surface of au arm, in detail; r, dorsal plates of an arm. morula, gastrula, and cephalula stage. Star- fishes are covered with scattered pediccllarise, pincer-like spines consisting of two prongs. Sense organs (spha'ridia) are also present. Starfish have the sense of smell, which is supposed to be localized in the suckers at the back of the eye- plate. Starfish crawl or glide by means of from two to four rows of slender tubular processes or 'feet,' with a sucker at the end. The.se ambula- eral feet are thrust out, fastened to the bottom, and by means of them the body is warped or pulled along over mussel or oyster beds, rocks, or weeds, the arms being capable of slightly bending. At the end of each arm is the red eye, terminat- ing the radial nerve. Starfish are very destruc- tive to oysters, clams, mussels, barnacles, snails, worms, and small Crustacea, To devour an oyster or clam the starfish grasps both valves of the shell, and by persistently exerting a constant steady strain, finally fatigues the adductor mus- cles closing the valves so that they slightly gap open. Then the stomach is protruded between the shells or valves and the soft body of the mollusk is digested. The injury to the oyster beds of Rhode Island caused by starfish in one year was estimated at $100,000. See Echinoder- MATA (and Plate) ; Oyster. Fossil starfish are found first in the Ordovician rocks, and they occur sparingly in later forma- tions, with some increase in the Devonian and Carboniferous, but they are never of geological importance. Some Mesozoic sandstone forma- tions of Middle Europe have furnished abundant casts, and they are found also in a few Tertiary localities. The Paleozoic species are grouped in the subclass Encrinasteri.ne, in which the ambu- lacra! ossicles alternate with each other along the middle line of the ambulacra -. while the Jles- ozoic and Tertiary species, and also the recent, are included in the Euasterifc, which have the anibulacral ossicles opposite each other. Consult: Romanes. Jelhifish, Starfish, and Sea Urchins (New York, 188.5); Mead, 29th Report Rhode Island Commissioners of Inland Fisheries (Providence. 1800). STARGAED, st-ir'g-irt. A to-ivn in the Prov- ince of Pomerania, Priissia, situated on the navi- gable Ihna, 22 miles east-southeast of Stettin (Map: Prussia, F 2). It is the most important town in the eastern part of the province. The Marienkirche and town hall are noteworthy. The town manufactures railway supplies and other machinery, has foundries, and is a woolen and cotton market. It belonged to the Hanscatir League and was strongly fortified. Population, in 1000, 26,8.58. STAR GRASS. A popular name for several grass like plants whose flowers or other parts re- semble stars in outline. Among them are species of Hypoxis, Cheloue, Callitriche, Aletris, and Rhinchospora. See Colored Plate of Amaryl- UDACE.E. STARHEMBERG, sta'rem-berK, Ernst Rtj- DIGEK, Graf ( lU.38-1701 ), An Austrian general, born at Gratz and educated for the army by Montecuccoli. He took part in the last cam- paigns of the Thirty Years' War, was present at Saint Gotthard in 1664, and gained especial glory by his brave defense of the city of Vienna for nine weeks in 1683, against the Turkish army. The Emperor Leopold made him a field-marshal and a Minister of State. Three years afterwards he was wounded at Bude and forced to retire from active service. He settled in Vienna and became president of the Council of War. Con- sult Thurheim, Feldmarschall Ernst Riidiger, Graf Starhemberff (Weimar, 1882). STARK, John (1728-1822). An American soldier, born at Londonderry, N. H. In early life he worked on his father's farm. During the French and Indian War he served with Rogers' Rangeis first as a lieiitenant, and later as a cap- tain. Reporting at Cambridge early in 1775, he was commissioned colonel, and, with a regiment raised in one day by himself, took part in the battle of Bunker Hill. Later he served in the Canada expedition and then under Washington in New Jersey, distinguishing himself at Trenton and Princeton; but, resenting the promotion over himself of a number of officers, he resigned in April, 1777, and returned to his home. On the approach of Burgoyne, he accepted an independ- ent command from New Hampshire, and defeated a force of Hessians in the battle of Bennington (q.v. ), August 16, 1777. For this he was made a brigadier-general, and was formally thanked by Congress. With a force of New Hampshire re- cruits he took an active part in the Saratoga cam- paign, and in 1778 and again in 1781 he com- manded the Northern Department. Consult his biography by Edward Everett in Sparks's Ameri- can Biography, and his Life and Official Corre- spondence by Caleb Stark, his grandson, STARLING (diminutive of stare. AS. sta-r, OHG. stara, Ger. Star, Staar, Stahr, starling; connected with Lat. sturnus, starling). A Euro- pean bird I Sturnus vulgaris) of the family Stur- nidse, famous for its song and powers of mimicry. It is rather smaller than the American meadow- lark, its nearest analogue in the New World, and is brown finely glossed with black, with a pale tip to each feather. It has been introduced into America and seems to have become established in and around New York City. The starling family is a large one, containing about 200 species, mostly living in the tropics of Africa and Asia. They fall between the Corvida; and Icterid.T, and are divisible into two sections: ' one containing the more typical terrestrial star- lings, the oxpeekers, the pastors, the mynas, pied