at all." little older. You would like Ham and Peg- | colour. Cotton-wool don't show them off, gotty, and the house on the beach made out of the hull of an old vessel, and all that early part of the book, very much, now; and then there are the school stories; and Aunt Betsey, and Janet, and the donkeys; and Mr. Dick and his kite." "It should be something in keeping, I think, with the other colouring of the box," said Mrs. Osburn. "What if you were to get some pretty specimens of moss, of different shades, and place your eggs on them. You might do it quite artistically; suiting the colour of the moss to that of the egg:for instance, the blue robin's egg on delicate gray, the cream-coloured partridge's on dark green or brown, and light eggs, generally, on the darker tints, and vice versa." "That'll be just the very thing!" exclaimed John. "I'll have such a box as nobody else ever saw! I'll go this afternoon and get the moss." "Only remember," said his mother, "that it will only do to use the dry kinds. That beautiful bright-green moss, that you see about the brook, would soil the box, and not keep its colour, either. Besides you don't want conspicuous shades,-only backgrounds to set off your eggs. They furnish the colouring. There are a great many pretty wood and rock-mosses, that would be well worth the trouble of obtaining. In "I wouldn't take Howard's for it, mother! this way, you will have two collections in and his cost five dollars." "A little that we contrive ourselves is often much more satisfactory than a great deal contrived for us," said Mrs. Osburn. "I have thought sometimes, when I have turned and trimmed up an old dress, that I liked it a great deal better than if I had bought a new one, and had it made by my dress-maker." "But this isn't old," insisted Johnnie. "It's new, and splendid! Don't that soft, brown lining look nice, all the way through? I'll get some black-walnut sawdust to put the eggs in. That'll look first-rate among the brown squares, won't it ?" "I don't know," said Mrs. Osburn, "whether it will be quite so appropriate in a box like this, as in one of walnut itself. It might scatter, too, and soil the lining." "That's so," said John. "But what can I have? They look so nice on a dark * American, equivalent for English boy's "stunning." one. "And I won't tell a single living soul till it's all done! They'll see if I can't get up a box! There's more than one way to kill a cat besides choking her to death with butter!" And, electrifying his mother with this application of a proverb from Jacob's repertory, he capered off out of the room. The box stood, for firm and thorough drying, in Mrs. Osburn's window-seat all the afternoon. Meanwhile, John searched wood and pasture for every possible pretty variety of moss. The next day, after his mother was seated, for the morning, in her own apartment, he came to her with his basket, and began to display his specimens. "See here, mother!" he exclaimed; "look at these beautiful, broad pieces of light-green! I peeled them off a big rock in the High Pasture. And these little, the window-panes?—I got off some trees crispy, gray bits-aren't they like frost on in Farmer Simmons's woods. And here's a lot of dark brown; and there's some splendid cup-moss, somewhere," he added, lifting up the pieces, and searching deeper into the basket. "I wish I could take them all out on something." "Wait a minute," said Mrs. Osburn, as she reached to the bell-cord near her, and pulled it. 66 'Jane," she said to the girl who answered the summons, "bring up, if you please, the large, old waiter from the diningroom closet." Upon this, when it came, John poured out, comfortably, all his mosses, and proceeded to sort and select them. "You will need to be very careful," said his mother, "not to soil or scratch the lining of your box, in putting in the bits of moss. You must break the pieces a little smaller than the squares you wish to fill, and then finish the gaps with little choice scraps, such as you can select and fit in." "Yes," replied John; "and then here's another thing. A good many of these pieces are thin, and won't fill the squares up high enough. They ought to be all even." "I can give you some cotton to put in, wherever it is necessary," said Mrs. Osburn. After two or three trials, and with little hints and helps from his mother, he became quite expert at arranging the squares. The effect of the whole was very beautiful. "Where are you going to put it, Johnnie ?" Mrs. Osburn asked. "It really is too pretty to be hidden away, or to be left where there will be any risk of injury. Hadn't you better let me find a place for it down stairs ?" 'Oh, no, mother ?" replied John, eagerly; "it wouldn't seem as if it were really my own. I can bring it down to show to people, 'you know. I'll take good care of it in my room." "As you do of all your other things? Ah, Johnnie!" "Well, I shall keep this by itself, somewhere; in my wardrobe, I suppose. But I don't believe the drawers are long enough to hold it." "One of them is," said his mother. Mrs. Osburn smiled as she rose from her seat and followed her son out of the room. "There, mother!" and he confidently threw open the doors of his wardrobe, forgetting, in the triumph of showing he was right, to be ashamed of the disorder betrayed. "And there, Johnnie!" repeated his mother. She had stooped, and put her hand under the bottom of the wardrobe, and now, as she spoke, slipped forward a long drawer, which occupied the whole size of the piece of furniture, and which John had never discovered. "Why, mother!" he cried. " Why did'nt you ever tell me of that before ?" "Was it worth while to provide an additional lumber-place ?" John looked a little ashamed. He closed the wardrobe doors, to shut off the disarray from view, and said nothing. Well," said Mrs. Osburn, "there you have a nice, separate place, where you can keep your eggs. I advise you not to throw in any old boots on the top of them!" She made no further allusions to the state of things above, but left the leaven to work. John brought his beautiful dark-green box, with its many-tinted contents, and placed it in the drawer. It occupied nearly all its width and half its length. A happy idea struck him of a use to be made of the remaining space. He took down from the upper shelf, where he had hitherto kept his eggs, a number of pretty birds' nests, which he had found empty in his rambles, and brought home. These he laid in beside the box. His specimens were all safely and beautifully arranged, at last. "Order reigned in" at least one corner of" Warsaw." But, somehow, as he turned away; he was not entirely satisfied. He could not forget how it was behind the doors. DWELLERS IN THE DEEP. BY GEORGE ST. CLAIR, F.G.S., &c. CHAPTER IX.-SEA-URCHINS, STAR-FISHES, SEA-CUCUMBERS, &c. (Class-ECHINODERMATA.) IN pictures of the sun and stars we com monly find rays of light represented as starting out in every direction from the luminous body; and, because in the starfish, the sun-fish, &c., we have ray-like parts disposed around a common centre, these creatures and their allies are grouped together as "the radiated sub-division of the animal kingdom." The resemblance of the five " fingers" of the common starfish to the five petals of many flowers reminds us that the radiata as a whole are almost plant-like in their character, often growing together like buds on a tree, and scarcely dreaming of moving from place to place. But the class with which we have to do to-day-the Echinodermata, or prickle-skinned animals, so called because they are covered with prickles, like hedgehogs-rank highest in the sub-kingdom, and though possessed of neither fins, legs, nor wings, can manage to move about pretty briskly, as we shall see. the skeletons of millions of organized beings once endowed with life, and susceptible of enjoyment, which, after performing the part that was for awhile assigned to them in living nature, have contributed their remains towards the composition of the mountain masses of the earth. 1 To come to living members of the class, let us talk first of the Echinus, or Sea-urchin, and its allies. The common hedge-hog, which we sometimes keep in our kitchens to eat up the beetles, is called the urchin, and this name being given to those particular dwellers in the deep which we are now considering, is an intimation that we shall find them covered wlth spines, or prickles. The name "sea-egg," also commonly applied to them, is an indication of their general size, and greater or less degree of roundness. But what connection can such a creature have with the five-finger or starfish, that it should be set down in the same class? We shall see. Professor Agassiz, describing the sea-urchin, says, "Let us look at one first as seen from above, with all its various organs fully extended. The surface of the animal is divided by ten zones, like ribs on a melon, only that these zones differ in size, five broad zones alternating with five narrower ones. The broad zones support a number of hard projecting spines, while the narrow zones are pierced with small holes, arranged in regular rows. through which extend the tentacles (feelers), terminating with little cups or suckers. These cups converge towards the summit of the animal, meeting in a small area filled by ten plates, five larger ones and five smaller ones. It must be evident that if we make slits in the five broad ones, stopping short of the central plates, and then spread the parts out flat, we shall get a shape approaching that of the star-fish; and evident, The creatures of the class are to be found in plenty on our own coasts, and more or less in most regions of the globe, the largest species being found in the tropical seas. In former geological ages some sorts of them were exceedingly abundant, as we know by the discovery of their fossils in the limestones of what geologists term the "transition" series of rocks. I have often met with them in the marble mantle-pieces of houses in the midland counties, and they are so numerous that the marble seems almost made of them. The substance of this marble, says Dr. Buckland, is often almost as entirely made up of the petrified bones of "encrinites as a corn-rick is composed of straws. Man applies it to construct his palace and adorn his sepulchre; but there are few who know, and fewer still who duly appreciate, the surprising fact that much of this marble is composed of on the other hand, that if we lay a five finger star-fish on his back, and drawing up the points of its rays, stitch them round a little disc of leather, we shall get a shape very much like that of the skeleton urchin." A wonderful thing about these creatures is the shell in which they are enclosed. "The skill of the Great Architect of Nature," says Edward Forbes, "is not less displayed in the construction of a sea-urchin than in the building up of a world." The wonder appears to strike every one who examines the creature. Mr. Gosse declares, that although accustomed to the multitudinous contrivances in nature-contrivances often as surprising and unexpected as they are beautifully effective-he is yet struck with admiration at the structure of a sea-urchin whenever he examines it anew. A globular hollow box has to be made, of some three inches in diameter, the walls of which shall be scarcely thicker than a wafer, formed of an unyielding limestone, yet fitted to hold the soft, tender parts of an animal which quite fill the concavity at all ages. But in infancy the animal (and, of course, its box, as this must bc full) is not as big as a pea; and it has to grow till it attain its adult dimensions. The box is never to be cast off and replaced by a new one, as in the case of the crab: the same box must hold the infant and the veteran urchin. Nor will it do to deposit new interior layers, as the oyster does, for the thicker the walls, if thickened from within, the less room in the cavity; while what is wanted is more room, ever more and more. The growing animal feels its tissues swelling day by day, and its cry is, "Give me space! a larger house, or else I die." How is this problem solved? The shell is composed of nearly six hundred little plates, of regular angular forms, all dovetailed together with the greatest nicety, each enveloped in a very thin layer of living flesh, which deposits fresh chalky matter, not only within and without, but at all the edges. "Conceive," says Kingsley, a Crystal Palace (for mere difference in size has nothing to do with the wonder), whereof each separate joint, girder, and pane, grows continually, without altering the shape of the whole!" And these plates, nearly six hun dred in number, and mostly pentagonal in shape, constitute a masterpiece of mosaic, of which the junctions are hardly visible, though, on allowing the shell to remain for some days in fresh water, the pieces fall apart. On These shell-walls of the sea-urchins and other creatures of the same order, are thickly studded with spines, sometimes very short and delicate, in other instances very long and slender, and in many species of moderate length and considerable massiveness. removing one of these, we see on the shell a rounded tubercle, suited to fit into a hollow socket in the base of the spine, the spine being bound to the tubercle by a short tendinous ligament, and having perfect facility of motion. In the "Cidaris," a brother to the sea-urchin, the spines seem to act as so many legs; and they are also used for excavating hollows in the sand, upon which the animal lies. They may also serve the purpose of protecting the animal, and enabling it to resist the attacks of its enemies, the force of the waves, or any sudden, violent contact with the rocks. When magnified, they are seen to be finely ribbed for nearly the whole length. When cut into thin sections, they make objects of extraordinary beauty for microscopic examination. The ribs visible on the outside show themselves as delicate columns, placed closely side by side, and connected by crossbars, forming an exceedingly delicate pattern. Sea-urchins like to shelter themselves in secluded nooks; and not satisfied with the privacy of such a retreat, they cover themselves with sea-weed, drawing it down with their tentacles, and packing it snugly above them, as if to avoid observation. If you put into a basin of sea-water one of the pretty kind which we find so abundantly under stones at low water, whose green spines are tipped with rosy purple, you will presently observe it marching majestically along by means, not of its spines, but of hundreds of sucker-feet-slender, pellucid, fleshy threads, each tipped with a little knob. You will see these waving to and fro, until one after another comes in contact with the glass, to which they adhere, on the prin ciple of the cupping-glass, or the boy's leather sucker, and that with such force, that the animal is able to drag itself along slowly, other suckers being ready every instant to take fresh hold and assist the pulling. When the urchin is dead and gone, you may take its empty box, and holding it up to the light, look into the cavity from the mouth, or under side. The light will stream in through a multitude of very small holes, running in lines, like meridians, from pole to pole of the flattened globe, only that, instead of being at equal distances, they are ranged in five principal bands, with blank intervals of greater width between. According to Professor Forbes, there are, in a moderate-sized urchin, sixty-two rows of pores in each of the ten series or "avenues" (for the five bands each contain two series), and as there are three pairs of pores in each row, the total number of pores is 3,720; but as each sucker occupies a pair of pores, the number of suckers is 1,860. Another marvel in the structure of the sea-urchin is its five long, projecting, movable teeth, working in bony sockets or jaws, which play up and down and across, so that a more effective grinding-mill can scarcely be imagined. The whole apparatus together was compared by Aristotle to a lantern, and is frequently described by modern writers as the "Lantern of Aristotle." There is still some uncertainty, however, about the grist that comes to this mill; there seems reason to believe that small crustacea and mollusca are the sea-urchins' chief food, but it is not unlikely that they are omnivorous, and regard everything as fish that comes to their net. In the countries bordering the Mediterranean, the sea-urchins themselves serve as food. In Sicily they are in season about the full moon of March. Among the spines and suckers of a seaurchin we discover a great number of exceedingly minute two or three-forked pincers, perpetually moving from side to side, and opening and shutting without intermission. When the point of a fine needle is introduced between the two blades, they instantly close and grasp it with considerable force. These little organs are called pedi cellaria, and were formerly supposed to be separate animals, making their home on the echinus, but now they are known to belong to the animal itself, though their use is somewhat uncertain. Come we now to the Star-fish and its friends, which, by the way, are none of them fishes at all, but asteriæ, &c., members of the class echinodermata. Star-fishes abound in every zone, from the Equator to the Frozen Ocean, and form several families or groups, which are again subdivided into numerous species. They are so very common in our waters that in many places the sea-bottom is literally paved with them. Every one knows the common star-fish, with its lanceolate arms, its generally orangecoloured back, thickly set with tubercles, and the pale under surface, with its rows of sucker-feet. The stomach is situated in the centre, and sends prolongations into each of the rays; the mouth is on the lower surface of the body. When the animal wishes to change its place, it brings a dozen or twenty of its suckers out, and having stretched them forward to the utmost towards a certain point, firmly attaches each, and begins to pull upon them, letting go at the same moment the hold of others behind. Thus the whole body, heavy as it seems, is easily dragged up, the action resembling that by which a ship's crew, having carried out a couple of anchors ahead, tighten the cables, and by means of the windlass warp up the vessel to the anchor's place. The star-fish's progression is a constant succession of such warpings, with the advantage of a large number of anchors and cables to work upon at the same time. But though resembling the sea-urchin in the possession of spines and suckers, the star-fish is unprovided with teeth, and has to depend on its digestive juices to reduce its food to the soft and fluid state. This, however, does not prevent its feeding on crustacea, shell-fish, small fishes, and in general whatever falls in its way, its mouth being ever on the gape. enemy to oysters, and as it is frequently found with one or more of its rays broken, | the fishermen fancy it loses them in conse It is a sworn |