Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1891-06-23
FUNNY WAYS OF srARrrsH.


Five individuals tn One. who Live
Together Amiably Rule.
~The attack of starfish upon an oyster
may be likened toa assault by organized
conspirators, inasmuch as each of these
five fingered animals is composed of five
distinct individuals, said scientist TO
writer. And he added:
Each of the starfish's five arms has its
own mind, nervous system, and thoughts,
such as they are, and all five nerve sys-
TENS simply meet in the center where the
arms are joined. Thus it may be said
that the mental guidance of this com.
plex creature and the management of its
affairs are intrusted to q board of five
members, who have communication with
each other, but act without the inter
mediation Of a presiding officer. Now,
is it not wonderful that such a quintet
should be able to manage its affairs SO
well and with such agreement of purpose
in everything2 Supposing each of the
five individuals attempted to go where il
listed without giving any heed to the
others, the animal could not reach q
choice bit of food, espied from afar with
the eye of one of It's members, nor travel
in any direction with a purpose in view.
But, as a matter of fact proved by obser.
vation, when a starfish is spying after
food it lifts the ends of its five arms so
that the eye beneath each extremity may
get view of things in the neighborhood,
and If any object worth going after is
discovered all the many hundreds Of
sucker like feet beneath the five arms are
seen to push out together in the direction
of the morsel desired. There is a unity
of intention among the partners that i'm.
plies unmistakably conscious sharing
of aim and design. The same thing is
shown by the way many starfishes have
of letting themselves drop from steep
rocks and cliffs, in order to save the
trouble of laborious climbing down. In
such cases before they relinquish their
hold and drop they let go with three OF
four arms, holding fast until the last mo-
ment with the remaining one or two, as
if it were to calculate the leap.
@My observations on this subject have
inclined me to think that matters of con.
certed action with starfish have not in
frequently to be effected by first obtain
ing the assent of an individual ray that is
willing. It is known that these creatures
sometimes divide themselves voluntarily
into three armed and two armed por-
ton, which may be regarded as the violent
dissolution of business and domestic rela-
tions once happy but grown inharmo-
nious. A starfish will often cast off one
of its arms and leave it behind, perhaps
because the member is not found agree
able to live with. If rubber band or a
string is fastened around an arm of one
of these animals and it can not push the
annoyance off with its other arms the
starfish viii throw the troublesome arm
away, not desiring to retain the compan-
ionship of such a cripple. Starfish arc
like human beings in many ways. Then
the animal which has thus deprived itself
of ray grows new one in place of the
old.
AS for the arm that Is dropped, 1t
promptly proceeds TO grow four new
arms, thus becoming whole starfish
itself. Being the biggest, it is presuma-
bly, for a long time the boss of the five,
which must be gratifying. A few years
ago people who caught starfish 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, inasmuch as every
one thus treated promptly became two.