nearly two thirds; and rice about nine tenths. Starch is made from corn by soaking it 48 hours in water, then grinding it and straining through sieves, after which the starch is allowed to settle in vats, when it is washed, bleached and dried. Potato-starch is made by grating potatoes, adding water and straining, settling, washing and drying. Wheat-starch and rice-starch are made by slightly different processes, to remove the gluten they contain. Arrowroot, tapioca, sago and cornstarch are forms of starch used as food. Starch is also used in the manufacture of calico and other cloths, in mounting photographs and in the laundry. It is also used in the manufacture of glucose, (q. v.). Cornstarch was first made in the United States in 1842. The factories at Oswego, N. Y., and Glen Cove on Long Island are the largest starch-factories in the world. There are about 100 starch-factories in the United States, making corn, wheat and potato starch, of which 10,000,000 pounds are exported yearly.
Star′fish, the name for a number of marine animals having arms or rays arranged around a central disk. As these are symmetrically arranged, the animal is said to have radial symmetry. There are several varieties, but the common five-rayed starfish is the type. It is reddish, or yellow, in color, and those along the New England coast commonly vary from one inch to one foot in diameter. It lives on the sea bottom and crawls sluggishly by means of tube feet. It is often seen in shallow pools left by the retreating tide. The skin is stiffened with plates and nodules of lime. The mouth is in the center of the disk, on the under side, and the animals feed on decaying fish and other animal matter, as well as on small shelled mollusks. Their means of locomotion is peculiar. There are four rows of tube-feet in furrows along the lower sides of the arms. These tube-feet are filled with water and connected with a system of water tubes running through the body. On the back of every starfish may be seen a little rounded knob, which is porous and leads into the water-vascular system. From this tubercle, a tube leads downward to join a circular canal surrounding the mouth, and from this central canal a tube extends into each arm or ray. These latter canals are connected with the tube-feet and also with internal pockets, one for each tube-foot. The nervous system consists of a ring about the mouth and a nerve running from it into each arm. At the extremity of each arm is found a little red eye-spot which is sensitive to light. Some other starfish have 11 to 13 rays, and some resemble five-sided pin cushions in form. The brittle starfishes have a central disk, with long, slim, muscular rays by means of which they move. Their tube-feet are not developed. All starfishes possess the power of restoring, or regenerating, lost or injured parts. See Echinodermata and Sea-Urchin. Consult Romanes’ Jelly-fish, Starfish and Sea-Urchin.
STARFISH
Stark, John, an American soldier, was born at Londonderry, N. H., Aug. 28, 1728. He served in the French-and-Indian wars and at Ticonderoga in 1758. At Bunker Hill he was colonel of a regiment which he had enlisted; and was at the front in the attack on Trenton and in the battle of Princeton. He raised a new regiment in 1777, and was given command of the New Hampshire troops sent against the British troops from Canada. On Aug. 16, 1777, he fought the battle of Bennington (known in New York as Walloomsac), receiving for it the thanks of Congress and the rank of general. With a new force recruited by him in New Hampshire he cut off Burgoyne’s retreat from Saratoga, and after serving in Rhode Island and New Jersey had charge in 1781 of the northern department, with headquarters at Saratoga. He died on May 8, 1822, the last but one of the generals of the Revolutionary army. See New Hampshire Soldiers in the War by Hammond and Life of John Stark, by Edward Everett, in Sparks’ “American Biography.”
Star′ling, a name for a number of common birds found only in the Eastern hemisphere, but lacking in Australia. This is the more remarkable as a starling is found in New Zealand, and others in various southern Pacific islands. The common starling of Europe is the best known. It is a beautiful bird with a dark plumage, having metallic green and purple reflections, and each feather tipped with buff. It nests near houses in bird boxes, when they are provided, and is easily tamed. It can be taught different notes and also
