. Guide book to the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky : historical, scientific, and descriptive. ch the others crowd. He then draws froma hiding-place a hand-net, and tries to catch for us a fewof the famous eyeless fish, that dart to and fro, but vanishon the least agitation of the waters. His success at thistime was not very encouraging. But subsequently, onother trips, we captured numerous specimens, from two tosix inches long, and usually destitute even of rudimentaryorgans of vision. Several, however, had protuberances orsightless eyes, and one had good eye-sight. The grada-tions of color are from
. Guide book to the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky : historical, scientific, and descriptive. ch the others crowd. He then draws froma hiding-place a hand-net, and tries to catch for us a fewof the famous eyeless fish, that dart to and fro, but vanishon the least agitation of the waters. His success at thistime was not very encouraging. But subsequently, onother trips, we captured numerous specimens, from two tosix inches long, and usually destitute even of rudimentaryorgans of vision. Several, however, had protuberances orsightless eyes, and one had good eye-sight. The grada-tions of color are from olive-brown to pure white; whilesome are perfectly transparent. They have simple carti-lage instead of bones, and are destitute of scales. Theyare known to be viviparous, the young being born in Oc-tober, and without external eyes when born. There arealso blind and white crawfish, that are oviparous, as isproved by a fine specimen now m my cabinet, which still *One authority makes the river 240 feet below the mouth of thecave, by barometric measurement. Others make it but 174 Mammoth Cave. 61 carries its cluster of salmon-colored agg?. The Cambarusand Ambljopsis have a wide distribution; being found inmany other caves, and also in certain deep wells, both inKentucky and in Indiana. These, as well as other true sub-terranean fauna, maybe regarded as chiefly of Pleistoceneorigin; yet certain forms are supposed to be remnants ofTertiary, and possibly of Cretaceous life. The stronglvmarked divergence of cave-animals from those found out-side, convinced the elder Agassiz that they were especiallycreated for the limits within which they dwell. But it isdoubtful if there is more variability than can be accountedfor by their migration, many generations ago, from theouter world to a realm of absolute silence and perpetualdarkness. Along the waters edge are cavities, from a few inchesto many feet in depth, washed out by the stream. Thesegave a wag along with the jolly Xashville p
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