Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-11-22
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Strange Fish and Insects That Live ID
 Perpetual Darkness.

Perpetual Darkness.
 The cavern bettle was first discov- cred some seventy years ago in an Aus trian cave, the grotto of Adelsberg. One specimen only was caught, ana, though its discoverer offered prize of E5 for another, 1t was fourteen years before second was found.
 The cavern beetle has little round body very long legs and absolutely no eyes at all. Brought out from it's gloomy haunts into the light of the sun it dies almost immediately. Yet, ln it's piteh-dark home, far beneath the surface of the earth, it moves with as great rapidity and certainty as any ot its eyes relatives on the upper soil.~
 To make up for it's lack of sight, it is provided with antenna of extraor- dinary length and delicacy. By means of these it feels it's way over the rough surface of the stone and hunts it's prey other smaller blind insects-witn great rapidity and absolute certainty. sx, The cavern beetle has it's enemies. The blothrus Ia species of scorpion) and the great eyeless spider hunt 1t re- morselessly. Prince Khevenhuller, who thoroughly explored these caves some years ago, describes 1t as a most extraordinary sight to watch by the light of candle a scorpion, absolute ly eyeiess, hunting beetle, equally blind, along the cavern wall Although the beetle was several feet in front of the scorpion, and divided from it by Assure in the rock, yet the scorpion tracked it with absolute and almost appalling. certainty.
 sThe spider found in these caves is of a lovely ivory white and is able, like other insects which inhabit thes same subterraneau depths, to run very rap idly and find it's way with as positive certainty as if it had eyes and light to use them. Like several of the others it too, perishes if taken out of the cave. Sunlight seems to wither and shrivei up these Insects, just as though they had hee1l paced in front of a hot fire.
 Yet in spite of this fact it is known that the blind cave creatures are de scended from others which originally lived in the light of day.
 An ordinary proof of this is that though no faintest ray marks the diff ference between day and darkness in the depths they live in, yet it has been ascertaineda beyoud shadow of doubt that those whose ancestors were noc- turnal in their habits still prefer to move about during those hours when the surface of the earth is in darkness.
 Numbers of different kinds of fish are known to live in the gloomy rivers and lakes which exist in all large caves.
 At San Marcos, Texas, borings were recently made to provide water sup ply for some new fresh batcherfes. At a depth of 1S8 feet a great stream of water was struck, which shot up at the rate of 1,2OO gallons minute. With it came thousands of tiny, shrimp like cheatures, and also large num- Der of surious little, pale colored rep- tiles, provided with long tails and each having four legs. These tiny monsters were. absolutely eyeless. The only trace that they ever possessed such organs are two little black spots above the nostrils.
 E A similar creature known as the olm inhabits the rivers in the Austrian caves already mentioned. In the depths of the Planina cave, nearly a mile and a half from the entrance, the olm is most abundant. The waters are fairly, alive with them, and when, some years ago. the Archduke Ferdinand paid a visit to this cave, a net was let down and number of the little reptiles caught for his benefit.