Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1892-01-21
A SINGULAR FISH.
Some Striking Peculiarities of the
Starflsh.
II Has the Power of Dividing Into SEQ
tions, and Each Part VIII Begin a
New Existence on Its Own
Account.

The attack of starfsh upon an oys-
ter may be likened to an assault by or
gained conspirators, inasmuch as
each of these five-fngered animals is
composed of five distinct individuals,
says the Washington Star. Each of the
starfish's five arms has its own mind,
nervous system and thoughts. such as
they are, and all FIVE nerve systems sim
ply meet in the center, where the arms
are joined. Thus it may be said that
the mental guidance of this complex
creature and the management of its af-
fairs are intrusted 10 a board of i've
members. who have communication
with each other, but act without the in
termediation of 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 everything? Surprising
that each of the five individuals at
tempted to go where it listed without
giving any heed to the others, the ami
NAL 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 purpose in view.
But, as a matter of fact proved by OBJ
servation, when starfsh is spying
after fooj i lifts the ends of its five
arms so that the eye beneath each ex-
tremity may get view of things in the
neighborhood, and if any object worth
going after is discovered all the many
hundreds of sucker-lilxe feet between
the five arms are seen to push out to-
gether in the direction of the morSel
desired.
There is a unit of intention among
the partners that implies Enthusiastically
a misunderstanding aim and design.
The same thing is shown by the way
many starfshes have of letting them
selves 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 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 think that matters ofcon-
certed action with starfish have not in
frequently to be affected by first OBJ
tanning the assent of an individual ray
that is willing. 1t is known that these
creatures sometimes divide themselves
voluntarily into three armed and two
armed portion, which may be regarded
as the violent dissolution of business
and domestic relations once happy, but
grown inharmonious. A starfish will
often cast off one of its arms and leave
it behind, perhaps because the member
is not found agreeable to live with.
If rubber band or string is fas-
tened around an arm of one of these
animals and it can not push the annoy
ance off with it's other arm. the startish
viii throw the troublesome arm away,
not desiring to retain the companion
ship of such a cripple. Startish are
like human beings in many ways. Then
the animal. which has thus deprived it
self of ray, grows new one in place
of the old.
AS for the arm that is dropped it
promptly proceeds to grow four new
arms, thus becoming whole starfish
itself Being the biggest it is pre-
sumably for a long time the boss of the
five, which must be gratifying. A few
years az people who caught starfish in
the oyster beds destroyed them. as they
thought. by cutting them in halves and
throwing them overheard, but the proc
ess was not very effective, inasmuch as
every one thus treated promptly be-
,.1uNa two