Here is a small specimen, just brought from the sea-shore at Cockburnspath (a most romantic and delightful locality, situated on the coast of Berwickshire). It is neatly wrapped up in a mantle of sea-weed. Freed of its verdant envelope, I deposit the youthful Rubens upon his back--'willy-nilly'--in a tumbler partly filled with clear sea-water, and then proceed to watch its movements through a magnifier. At a glance we perceive that each of its five rays is grooved on its lower surface, and filled with minute perforations, through which is gradually protruded a multitude of fleshy suckers, knobbed at the end. It is by aid of these organs that the animal grasps its food, and changes its position, as we shall presently see. One of the rays is now slowly lifted up and moved about in various directions, while from its extreme point the suckers are extended to the utmost limit. No sooner do they touch the side of the vessel than they are firmly fixed and contracted. A _point d'appui_ being thus gained, the animal is enabled by degrees to draw its body round, so as to get another regiment of suckers into play, and, by such plan of operations being repeated, the animal is eventually enabled to 'right itself,' and crawl up the polished surface of the glass. Generally, when the Star-fish is disturbed, or placed on a dry piece of stone, the suckers are withdrawn into the body, leaving no signs of their previous existence except a series of minute tubercles. In fact, the Asterias, although enabled to adhere with great tenacity to any foreign object when immersed in water, possesses but little power to retain its hold if the fluid be removed. Hence the young zoologist, keeping this peculiarity in mind, should not too hurriedly return a verdict of 'Found dead,' when he meets with a helpless specimen upon the beach, for in all likelihood, were the creature to be laid for a few minutes in a rock-pool, it would soon exhibit signs of returning animation. A simpler, though not so sure a test for ascertaining whether a Star-fish be living or not, is to handle the specimen. If it feels soft and flabby, it is dead; but if tolerably firm to the touch, it may be 'recalled to life,' by the means pointed out. It may not be out of place to chronicle here a singular circumstance which the writer has often verified in connection with the true Star-fishes. It is this. When any captured specimens have been placed in confinement, no matter how large or small such might be, they never moved through the liquid element with a tithe of the rapidity that I well knew they were capable of. At the sea-side, I have seen a specimen of the Cross-fish glide through the water so nimbly, yet withal so gracefully, that I have felt inclined to rank natation among the few other acomplishments of which the species can boast.