The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1905-05-25
LIGHT KILLS THEM.
Stranxe Fish and Insects That Live
In Perpetual Darkness.

atranxe Fish and Insects That Live
In Perpetual Darkness.
The cavern beetle was first discover
ed some seventy years ago in an Aus,
trian cave, the grotto Of Adelsherg.
One specimen only was caught, and
though its discoverer offered a prize
Of IS for another, it was fourteen years
before q second was found.
The cavern beetle has a 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
In its pitch dark home, far beneath the
surface of the earth, it moves with as
great rapidity and certainty as any OF
its eyed relatives on the upper soil.
To make up for its lack Of sight it
is provided with antennae of eXtraordl-
nary length and delicacy- by means
Of these it feels its way over the rough
surface Of the stone and hunts its prey
other smaller blind insects, with
great rapidity and absolute certainty.
The cavern beetle has its enemies.
The blothrus "a species Of scorplom
and the great eyeless spider hunt 1t
remorselessly. Prince I<hevenhuller,
who thoroughly explored these caves
some years ago, describes 1t as most
extraordinary sight to watch by the
lipht of a candle a scorpion, absolutely
eyeless, hunting a beetle, equally blind,
along the cavern wall. Although the
beetle was several feet in front of the
scorpion and divided from it by ifs
sure in the rock, yet the scorpion track
ed It with absolute and almost ap-
palling certainty.
The spider found in these caves is of
a lovely ivory white and is able, like
other insects which inhabit the same
subterranean depths, to run very rap
idly and find its 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
shrivel up these insects just as though
they had been placed in front of 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
ascertained beyond shadow Of doubt
that those whose ancestors We're noe,
lturnal 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
land lakes which" exist in all large
caves.
| At San Marcos, Tex, borings were
lrecently made to provide a water sup
lply for some new fresh hatcheries. Al
la depth of 1873 feet great stream OF
water was struck, which shot up at thu
rate Of 1900 gallons a minute. With
came thousands Of tiny, shrimp-likt
creatures and also a large number o.
curious little pale colored reptiles pro
vided with long tails and each having
flour legs. These tiny monsters wer'
absolutely eyeless. The only trace tina
they ever possessed such organs ar
1.-TWO little black spots above the nos
trils.
A similar creature known as the oln
inhabits the rivers in the Austrian
leaves already mentioned. In tn
fdepths of the Planina cave, nearly
+ Imile and half from the entrance, tn
tolm Is most abundant. The waters ar
e fairly alive with them, and when, som
r Years ago, the Archduke Fer1;nan
paid q visit to this cave a net was lie
down and a number of the little rcl
tiles caught for his beneft-Londo
Tit-Bits.
A South Sea Church Collection.
A box has reached the British an