YOUNG OF THE BLIND FISH. 



obtained in a stream that passes into the 'Wyandotte Cave, though 

 he entered it b}^ means of a well in the vicinity of the cave, says 

 that : 



"If these Amblyopses be not alarmed they come to the surface 

 to feed, and swim in full sight like white aquatic ghosts. They are 

 then easily taken by the hand or net, if perfect silence be pre- 

 served, for they are unconscious of the presence of an enemy 

 except through the sense of hearing. This sense is, however, evi- 

 dently very acute, for at any noise they turn suddenly downward, 

 and hide beneath stones, etc., on the bottom. They must take 

 much of their food near the surface, as the life of the depths is 

 apparently very sparse. This habit is rendered easy by the struc- 

 ture of the fish, for the mouth is directed upwards, and the head is 

 very flat above, thus allowing the mouth to be at the surface." 



The blind fish has a single ovary, in common with several genera 

 of viviparous Cyprinodontes. In three female specimens of Am- 

 blyopsis which I have opened, the ovary was distended with large 

 eggs, but no signs of the embryo could be traced. In these three 

 specimens it was the right ovary that was developed, and this, as 

 in the figure (Plate 2, fig. Ic), was by the side of the stomach 

 and did not extend beyond it. The number of eggs contained in 

 the ovary was not far from one hundred in the specimen figured. 

 As the embryos develop, the mass probably pushes further 

 back in the cavity and also extends the abdominal walls. That 

 the fish is viviparous is proved by the statement made by Mr. 

 Thompson before the Belfast Natural History Society,* that one 

 of the blind fishes from the cave, four and a half inches long, 

 u was put in water as soon as captured, where it gave birth to 

 nearly twenty young, which swam about for some time, but soon 

 died. These, with the exception of one or two, were carefully 

 preserved, and fifteen of them are now before us [at the meeting, 

 I wish they were here] , they were each four lines in length." 



It is singular that no mention is made regarding these young, as 

 to the presence or absence of eyes, and, as if it was fated that this 

 important point should remain unnoticed as long as possible, it is 

 equally singular that Dr. Stein dachner omitted to examine some 

 very young specimens which he received from a friend a few 

 months since and sent to the Vienna Museum, where they will 

 remain unexamined until he returns there. I saw the Doctor only 



* Annals and Mag. of Natural History, Vol. xiii, pp. 112, 1844. 



