Page:The fairy tales of science.djvu/155

Rh holes in its under surface. Another member of the starry family may be seen clinging to the smooth surface of yonder rock,—a twelve-rayed sun of the richest scarlet. Here is another, a pentagonal disc of scarlet and orange; and here again another, a little flower-like disc with five long prickly arms that move about in a graceful serpentine manner. The last-named creature is extremely sensitive to insult, and were you to handle him too roughly, he would probably commit deliberate suicide by breaking himself into little bits.

But how did that little hedgehog find his way hither? Examine him closely, and you will see that he is not an ordinary hedgehog. He is certainly covered over with prickles, but these instead of being of a dark brown are of a pretty violet colour. Again, his form is much more regular than that of his terrestrial namesake, and he has neither head nor legs. He is a distant relative of the living stars, though you would hardly think so, judging from his external appearance.

Look at these stony tubes twisted so curiously into a tangled group. These are the habitations of some of the mermaid’s subjects. See! from the mouth of one of these tubes a conical stopper of a bright scarlet colour emerges, and now a row of feathery objects which slowly spread themselves out