The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-05-02
FOUND IN fl WE'LL.
Underground Creatures That Interest the
 Man of Science.

| Washington Letter to Boston Transcript) | Geological experts at the Smithsoni- an Institution are busy studying and inventing names for the strange ami mals cast up by the wonderful artesian well at San Marcos, Texas. Some of them have been forwarded to Wash ingtonin bottles and jars and much ex- citement has been occasioned among government scientists. They declare that this is the most remarkable dis covery of subterranean life ever made. l The government contemplates the | establishment of fish hatchery at San Marcos, for the propagation of black bass, catfish and other pond fishes
 Boring was begun for the purpose of obtaining water, which was struck in plenty at depth of one hundred and eighty eight feet. In fact when that point was reached the drill suddenly dropped four feet, having evidently reached 8 big cavity, and out poured a vigorous stream. The stream is still l flowing at steady rate of eleven hum dred gallons minute, and it bids fair to keep on indefinitely.
 The cavity struck by the drill was undoubtedly the tunnel of subterra- mean river. That the waters of this underground stream was full of life is satisfactorily proved by the great num- l Der of animals of various kinds which are thrown out at the surface through the artesian pipe. But it is not their quantity that excites astonishment nearly so much as their strange char acter. All of them appear to belong to species hitherto wholly unknown to science. There are shrimps of a queer kind, of which the we'll yields about half a pint day on an average; sow | bugs of a new genus, not related to any most remarkable of all, salamanders six inches long, with surprisingly devel- oped legs.
 Where does the river come from? 1 That seems to be the first question. It Is mystery up to date. In that region l the phenomenon of the Host" river is | frequent and familiar. Such stream runs merrily for distance and then l sinks into the ground; perhaps 1t may 1 reappear further on and disappear l again. The supposition is that the | subterranean river in question is con- | tinuation of some river that has got it. l self lost far to the north. The geo. | graphical strata in the neighborhood of | San Marcos dip southward toward the Gulf of Mexico, and it is believed that there exists at higher level hidden | cavern of considerable size, through which the stream runs. This undis- covered cavern, with no visible opening from above ground, furnishes the ne- cessary supply of air to the creatures l that live in the water that flows | through the tunnel
 From any point of view the discovery 1 is quite extraordinary All of the spe- l cies of animals thus far brought to the | surface are blind and colorless, resem- | bling in those respects the crustaceans I and batrachians of the great caves, where there is everlasting night Dr. l Stejneger, who knows as much about salamanders as any man living, has been making a special study of the San Marcos specimens. He finds that they have no near relatives with which sci ence Is acquainted in this country or l abroad. Their nearest of kin are the so-called mud-puppies of our streams and certain batrachians of Austrian caverns. They have remarkably long legs and their noses are shovel shaped
 It is likely that Dr. Steineger will put these salaaanders on record as repre- senting not merely new genus, but 8 new family in the order of batrachians 1 One of the females laid five eggs after | ;,@., | ing with interest for some fishes to come out of the wonderful well. They are sure to turn up sooner or later, tt | is believed, because they are not at all likely to be absent where there is so much food for them in the shape of shrimps, etc. Perhaps they also will prove to be of an entirely new species. It should be remembered that, the source of supply being inaccessible, the only animals thus far secured are those which have been brought to the surface of the ground by the merest chance. There would surely be good fishing in that subterranean river if one could get at it with a hook and line.
 Most numerous by far among the creatures cast up from the depths have been the shrimps. They are about three-quarters of an inch long, color less and blind. Tn and attached to their bodies are found immense mum bers of parasite protozoa. which are nearly related to the micro-organisms that breed malaria in the human sys- tenn. This fact has an interesting bearing upon the theory hitherto ac- cepted that artesian water is necessari- l ly free from malaria microbes. The sowbugs, already referred to, which are crustaceans. have only been familiar up to now as salt water forms. They get a living commonly by attaching | themselves to fishes, out of whose flesh | they are able to take large bites by means of their strong jaws, which are | furnished with a sort of knife-and- fork arrangement. One small and new spe- | cies of leech turned up with the rest of | the animals.
 The artesian well is only few rods | distant from the famous spring of San Marcos. which has an enormous out pour of water In fact, this spring is the head of the San Marcos river. Pre- surnably it is fed by the same subterra- mean stream.
 Trains Will be Held.