Beauteous stars also the sea contains, as numberless, though not so brilliant in appearance as those which stud the firmament of heaven; flowers, too, grow beneath the wave, and rival in loveliness the gems which adorn our fields and hedge-rows. Nay, more, like the land, the ocean owns its various grasses, its lemons, and cucumbers, its worms, slugs, and shelly snails, its hedgehogs, its birds, its ducks and geese (anatidÆ), its dogs, its hares, and lastly its mice (aphroditÆ.) The latter objects, despite their unprepossessing name, being in no wise less interesting than those above mentioned.

The Aphrodite aculeata is, perhaps, one of the most gorgeous creatures that inhabits the seas of our British coast. Its body is covered with a coating of short brown hairs, but as these approach the sides of the animal, they become intermixed with long dark bristles, the whole of which are of an iridescent character. In one respect this creature bears no resemblance to its namesake of the land, being extremely slow and sluggish in its movements (at least according to our experience) when kept in confinement. Some writers, however, affirm that the Aphrodite possesses the power, although seldom exercised, of both running and swimming through the water with considerable speed.

In general the animal loves to tenant the slimy mud, and wherever the writer has happened to come upon a specimen at the sea-shore, its back has always been thickly coated with sand or dirt. The Sea-Mouse, then, unlike the peacock, can never be deemed an emblem of haughty pride, yet has nature in her lavish beauty endowed this humble inhabitant of the deep with a richness of plumage, so to speak, fully equal in its metallic brilliancy to that which decorates the tail of the strutting bird we have mentioned. As the bristles of the Aphrodite are moved about, tints—green, yellow, and orange, blue, purple, and scarlet—all the hues of Iris play upon them with the changing light, and shine with a metallic effulgence. Even if the animal, when dead, is placed in clear water, the same varied effect is seen as often as the observer changes his position.

Not only are the SetÆ worthy of notice on account of their lustrous beauty, but also for their shape, and the important part they play in the economy of the animal. These lance-like spines seem to be used by the Aphrodite as weapons of defence, like the spines of the hedgehog or porcupine. In some species they are like harpoons, each being supplied with a double series of strong barbs.

The instruments can all be withdrawn into the body of the animal at will, but we can easily conceive that such formidable weapons being retracted into its flesh would not add to the creature's comfort—in fact they would produce a deadly effect, were it not for the following simple and beautiful contrivance.

Each spine is furnished with a double sheath composed of two blades, between which it is lodged; these sheaths closing upon the sharp points of the spear when the latter is drawn inwards, effectually guard the surrounding flesh from injury.

The shape of this animal is oval, the back convex, while the under part presents a flat and curious ribbed-like appearance. Its length varies from three to five inches; specimens, however, are sometimes to be procured, even on our own shores, of much larger dimensions.