59 
feet. The object in quest of which I came to this place was the very rare 
cave salamander, Typhlotriton. It was found in a low passage, so low 
that going on hands and knees was in many places out of the question. 
The process of going snake fashion was facilitated by the slippery roof, 
and, in many places, a muddy floor. A layer of water of varying depth 
covered the floor. In this water, under rocks, I found the salamanders. 
It is worth pondering that here, many feet under ground, this salamander 
has retained the retiring habits of its confreres of the upper surface. I 
secured four adults and two laryae at this point. One of the adults I met 
coming down a slippery slope on all fours, while I was going up in the 
same fashion. 
Rock House Cave is reached from Exeter on the Frisco line by a little 
railroad that runs down hill all the way to Cassville, and thence by buggy 
to Rock House Cave. Evidently there formerly was an extensive series 
of underground streams here. The main cave has been obliterated by ero- 
sion, which has cut down below the former level of the main cave. AS a 
result we find here a deep, narrow valley with small tributaries emptying 
into it from caves opening high up on the sides of the valley in little 
gorges. The largest of these is Rock House Cave, with an entrance large 
enough to serve as a carriage house. In the gravel of the bed of the small 
rivulet coming from this cave I secured an additional lot of larval Typhlo- 
triton, but could find no more adults. This cave I entered twice by myself. 
Day’s Cave I had yisited a year before when I sat, lamenting and in 
impotent rage, at the mouth of this hole in the ground. It was full of 
water, the mouth choked up and I could not get in. Now I came with 
plans for excavations which I would set on foot while I went elsewhere 
to look for game. To my delight I found that some enterprising citizens 
had dug a neat passageway into this cave to see what could be done with 
the water to supply the town of Sarcoxie. It was still necessary to crawl 
to get in, but I was at once rewarded, for I caught the new genus of blind 
fish deseribed in the proceedings of this Academy last year as Typh- 
lichthys rosae. I entered this caye twice in one day and secured eight 
fishes. 
I was induced to go on a fool’s errand into Kansas by the things de- 
seribed by an old miner with a string of scintillating expletives as being 
common in the drifts of the extensive mines of that region. But aside 
from a little experience nothing was gained on this trip. 
