Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-09-26

Crsatares % the Csver.s which Have y
Eye Nor Any Ice Cor Light -.

THEY LIVE IN THE DARK
Crsatarss % the Csv.r.s which Have ss
kyes Nor Any Tee fer Light -
written for ne Ev~nias star
THERE ARE MANY ANIMALS N THE
l. world which pass all their hive. An Darkness.
never seeing ray o: light Every one has
heard Of the blind hshes Of the Mammoth Gave
The latter 10 the biggest Of 500 great caverns
in the United States All Of them arp inhabited
by numerous other sorts Of creatures that have
no eyes for vision. Literally speaking, these Is
no such thing - . blind hsh since the most
sightless OF the hnuy tribe Possesses visual
organs In . documentary condition. Rut.
through want Of use, the optic g.nglia and
nerves have broken down and been absorbed.
TEE BLryp NKABrrAxra
Among the animals In these caves WHARF
Egyptian darkness over dwells ARE blind GRAY
fish, colorless. which In the water by tosch-
light look like white phantoms Of their cut
door kind Nov and then In such places one
comes across Q common frog. emacizted and
seemingly discouraged, which has found its
way. how no one knows. 20 the TartaFean
r re Also one discovers curious cave rats.
with longer bodies, like veasel's
more developed whiskers and much bigger
ears. OF bats there are multitades in the cav
ems, as one might expect inssmuch ~ they
are creatures of darkness. Countless numbers
OF them frequent the black hoilows Of Mann
moth and Luray. There were times In the
past when these vast caves were the resors. q
giganue beasts, such the negatherium
wiped out by the glacial epoch. With fheir
bones are found those Of extinct tapirs and
peccaries
SPIDERS AND BErTIEa
Spiders OF several kinds are found in the
caves. They are uniformly small weak and Of
sedentary habits. No webs do they spin. save
few irregular threads sometimes. What thev
live upon Is rather . puzzle, though il 10 snp-
posed that they catch stray mite, and other
such small fry. Scavengers constitute Q large
part OF the population Of the caverns Oar
nisorous beetles are plentiful particularly IN
those places where parties take lunch. such
relectamenta OF tourists accumulate in spots an
The Mammoth Cave actually by cart loads; but
though there Is 30 much moisture. decomeosi-
ton progresses 80 slowly that the offal ls not
offensive. The processes of decay seem % be
accomplished chiefly by few fungi. IL 10 said
That meat hung up at the mouth Of one OF the-.
caVerns remains fresh for n long time, aud u 10
surmised that the bacteria which causes thines
TO become putrid are probably rare In the un-
foreground atmosphere.
IN THE DIRT PARTS.
No animals whatever are found in the dry
parts Of the caves Dampness, OF q certain de.
gree OF moisture, seems TO be-essential TO their
existence. Under the stones one finds Whit.
eyeless worms. ond in the damp soil around
about are to be discovered blind beetles in hit
tie holes which they excavate and bugs Of the
thousand-leg sort These thousand-leg huge.
which IN the upper world devour fragments az
dead leaves and other vegetable debris. sasiain
HE IN the caverns by feeding upon dec we'd
wood fungus growths and bate dung. ..aeel-
ing In n beaten path one can zee numbers q
them gathered about hardened dril Of tAllov
crickcts also.
now THE sIoHr rs Lost.
So far rs the insects Of the caves are con-
cerned, the loss of sight which they gradually
undergo is sufficiently well understood. The
FIRST step is . decrease in the number Of the
facets which make up the compound ewes, nth
q corresponding diminishment of the Leases
and retine. After four or five generations the
eyes become useless. IL would be most inter
esting TO breed these or other blind creatures
OF the caves IN the light, so 20 nnd out ~
they would get their sight back. In all aniInals
including man, il il found that nature tries 90
compensate for loss OF vision by increasing the
power Of the sense Of touch. Thus the sntenne
Of cave insects grow remarkably long. u IL
very curious to fimd that nothing in their be-
hayior suggests the fact that they are blind.
Iney walk, run, stop, explore the ground and
try TO escape from the grasp Of the bug huater
just II they really saw. The light Of = candle
startles them ne much o. n they perceived it
usually. Ii is a remarkable fact, proving hat
the ancestors OF these creatures could see that
IN the embryo stage OF their existence tbey
have eyes well developed.
The most interesting geographical feature Of
streams which sink into the sand OF leap down
gorges, disappearing and reappearing at lister
walls most mysteriously. Ii reminds one Of bov
..Alph. the sacred nver. ran
THROUGH eayerns measure-es TO maA-
Down ~ q sunless sea"
IN THE DEEP SEAS.
In the abysses Of the oceans, below 500 faith
oms, many animals have either imperfect eyes
or none. Their condition in this regard sfsrds
a suggestive parallel to that Of cave Life and
the causes are probably the same. Science is
OF the opinion that all deep-sea life originally
emigrated from the shallows The creatures
which dwelt in the darkness of the depths nat
urally lost their powers OF vision after q while.
II is the same way with the mole, which l.
doubtless descended from progenitors which
could see. Blindness in the mole 10 the result
Of a degeneration OF the optic nerve, the con-
sequence of which ~ that images formed in the
eye itself are not transmitted 90 the
animals CONSEQUENCES Occasionally q lnols
can little out OF eye which has re
tanned it's communication with the brain. ID 10
not that the mole IL born blind but thai ID
inherits a tendency TO atrophy Of the visual
organs just rs people derive from their parents
an inclination 10 consumption or other die
eases. Some day in the future there mar be
no such thing a mole that is not entirely and
hopelessly blind.
Most remsrkable Of the fungi that grow in
the great caverns are mushrooms edible OF
otherwise. in vast beds, the product of wbich.
uncultivated and uneated, reminds one Of the
champignons propagated by Thousands Of
bushels art fcially IN caves Of France for the
the markets Of the world.
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From the London Truth.
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