BLIND ANIMALS 
165 
living in the vicinity of the cave. Nevertheless he claimed 
for the blind fishes and some of the invertebrates a different 
origin, because the former had no immediate relations among 
fresh-water forms, while the lernean fish parasite was a 
more decidedly marine than fresh-water form. He took these 
facts to indicate that part of the great cave system was 
supplied by marine life. 
Professor Packard * makes no allusion to Mr. Putnam’s 
view in his account of the origin of the subterranean fauna 
of North America. Mr. Putnam’s theory indeed appears to 
be scarcely tenable. His remark that the blind fishes of the 
Mammoth and other caves have no immediate relations among 
fresh-water forms has to be modified in accordance with our 
existing knowledge of fishes. The blind fishes, all of which 
belong to the family Amblyopsidae, are no doubt a very 
ancient group, and, as Drs. Jordan and Evermannf suggest 
they are probably descendants of the eyed genus Chologaster, 
or at least forms very closely allied to it. Now one species 
of Chologaster inhabits swampy marshes in the southern 
States, and two others live in the subterranean streams of 
Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois. The most typical blind 
fishes, Typhlichthys subterraneus and Amblyopsis spelaeus, 
are met with in the underground streams of Indiana and 
Kentucky. 
Professor Garman $ expressed the opinion that the blind 
species observed in the caves were already blind prior to the 
formation of the caves, and that they only collected there 
from various directions owing to the favourable conditions 
for their requirements. Whether this theory is based on sound 
evidence need not be discussed, but his statement that 
Typhlichthys subterraneus has a very wide range has been 
questioned by Professor Eigenmann,§ who showed that the 
apparently identical species from Missouri is really quite 
distinct from that of the Mammoth Cave. Professor Eigen - 
mann points out that we have to deal with a remarkable and 
* Packard, A. S., “ Origin of subterranean fauna.” 
t Jordan, L>. S., and B. W. Evermann, “ Pishes of North America,” 
Yol. I., p. 702. 
f Garman, H., “ Origin of Cave Fauna,” pp. 240—241. 
§ Eigenmann, C. H., “A Case of Convergence,” p. 281. 
