The Irish standard., 1891-06-27
a COMPLEX CREATURE.
Some of the Remarkable Traits of tho
Starfish. 5-S "a.

Some of the Remarkable Traits of tho!
Starfish
':The attack of a starfsh upon an
oyster may be Hkenetto an assault by
organized conspirators, inasmuch as
each of these fve-fngered animals is
composed Of five distinct individuals, y
said scientist to a Washington Star
man. each Of the starfsh's five arms
has it's own mind, nervous system and
thoughts, such as they are, and all five
nerve systems simply meet in the cen
ter where the arms are joined Thus it
may be said that the mental guidance
Of this complex creature and the man
agement Of its affairs are intrusted 20 a
board Of five members, who have com
munication with each other, but act
without the hntermediation Of a pie
siding officer. Now, is it not wonder
full that such q quintet should be able
to manage its affairs SO we'll and with
such agreement Of purpose in every
thing: Surprising that each OF the
five individuals attempted to go where
it listed without giving amy heed 70 the
others, the animal could not reach a
choice bit of food, espied from afar
with the eye Of one Of its members, nor
travel in any direction with a purpose
in view But as a matter of fact,
proved by observation. when a starhsll
is spying for food it lifts the end of its
five arms SO that the eye beneath each
extremity may get g view Of things in
the ueighborloou, and if any Object
worth going after is discovered all the
t1-n Fr.rf
beneath the five arms are seen to push
out together i'll the direction Of the
3norsel desired. There is a unity Of in
tention among the partners that i'm
plies Enthusiastically FL conscious sharing
Of aim and design The same thing is
shown by the way many startis]lss have
Of letting themselves drop from steep
rocks and cliffs III order to save The
trouble of laborlous elm hing down. III
such cases: before they rclil1quis}l
their hold and drop, they let g. with
three or four arms, holding fast until
the last moment with the remaining, as
if to calculate The leap.
my observations on this subject
have inclined me to thin|i that matters
of concerted action will, Stariish have
not infrequently to DC effected by first
obtaining the, assent OF All individual
ray that is willing. It is known that
these creatures some times divide them
selves voluntarily into a three armed
and q tvo-almed portion, which may
be regarded as the violent dissolution
of business and domestic relations once
happy, but grown inh arlnonious. A
starfsh will often cast off one OF its
arms and leave it behind, perhaps be-
cause the member is not found agree
able to live with. If a rubber band Or
string is fastened around an arm OF one
oil these animals and it cannot push the
annoyance off with it's other arms the
starfsh will throw the troublesome
arm away, not desiring to retain the
companionship Of such a cripple. Star
fish are like human beings in many
ways. Then the animal which has
thus deprived itself Of ray grows q
new one in place Of the old
'sAs for the arm that is dropped it
promptly proceeds to grow four new
arms, thus becoming a whole starfsh
itself. Being the biggest it is pre-
sunably for IL long time the boss Of the
five, which must be gratifying. A few
years ago people who caaght starfsh in
in the oyster beds destroyed them, as
they thought, by cutting them in halves
and throwing them overheard, but the
process was not very effective, mas
much as everyone thus treated prompt
ly becomes two"