THE ANNALS 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF NATUKAL HISTOKY. 



[FIFTH SERIES.] 



No. 26. FEBRUARY 1880. 



VII. — On some Blind Ariiphipoda of the Caspian Sea. 

 By Dr. Oscae Geimm*. 



The problem of the origin and evolution of blind animals has 

 occupied the attention of many naturalists of late ; and their 

 investigations have contributed to science many facts of the 

 greatest importance. The number of these discoveries has 

 been further increased by the 'deep-sea investigations, which 

 have brought to light some extremely interesting forms from 

 enormous depths. But when we consider the already great 

 number of blind animals, we cannot help constantly raising 

 the question of their origin, as even now two opposite opinions 

 prevail, which exclude each other and cannot be reconciled. 



Twenty years ago one might have been contented with the 

 dogma that the creatures were created blind because they were 

 intended to live in dark caves and the abysses of the sea, and 

 therefore the faculty of sight was unnecessary to them. Now- 

 adays, however, this notion is supported by few professed 

 naturalists : the great majority recognizes in the absence of 

 eyes in certain animals the result of a residence in darkness, 

 by which means the visual organ must certainly become re- 

 trograde, as it cannot be and is not made use of. Besides 

 Fries's experiment with Gammarus pulex, it is well known 

 that persons who have been compelled to languish out a long 



* Translated by W. S. Dallas, F.L.S., from the 'Archiv fur Natur- 

 geschichte,' 1880, p. 117. 



Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. v. 7 



