OF GREAT BRITAIN. 99 



from the light, it is an almost universal rule that 

 the eyes are so much undeveloped as to produce 

 total blindness. The fish taken in the Mammoth 

 Caves of Kentucky are blind, and of a white co- 

 lourless hue, as also is a species of Crawfish found 

 in the same subterranean waters. The Proteus 

 anguinus, inhabiting the caves of Illyria, exhibits 

 the same peculiarities. 



Through the kindness of my friend, the late Sir 

 Emerson Tennent, I had on one occasion the op- 

 portunity of examining some newly discovered mud- 

 fish found under the surface of the paddy-fields of 

 Ceylon. The medium in which they exist is about 

 the consistency of pea-soup ; and their eyes are so 

 small as to be almost imperceptible. It may be 

 presumed, I think, that all these blind creatures 

 obtain their food principally or wholly by scent. 



But to return. The bones in the head of the 

 Carp are very remarkable for their exquisite polish 

 and symmetry, being as hard and as white as ivory, 

 and resembling, indeed, a highly-finished marble 

 sculpture more than anything else. 1 The arrange- 

 ment of the bones forming the jaws and mouth is 

 also very complete and beautiful. According to 

 Blumenbach, Carp have the largest brain, in pro- 

 portion to their size, of any fresh-water fish : they 

 are certainly the most difficult to take by bait, and 



1 There is or was before the migration to South Kensington 

 a skeleton of an enormous Carp in the British Museum, well 

 worth inspection. 



