CARP AND TENCH. 285 



part, who being apparently aware that they cannot possibly devour 

 the food in hard and unbroken condition, proceed with wonderful 

 unanimity to push it with their snouts to the nearest part of the 

 stone wall confining the lake. Against this they continue butting 

 it violently, until at length the repeated blows, and the softening 

 effect of the water, cause the ball to break ; when, just at the 

 moment that it is in a fit state to be eaten, some half dozen enor- 

 mous carp, white with age, who have been watching the proceedings 

 with evident interest, shoulder away the young workers, who retire 

 with great precipitation, while the tyrants of the lake gobble or 

 rather suck in the pabulum which has cost the small carp so 

 much trouble to render fit for their eating. It is the old story of 

 might against right, and as we have often witnessed what we have 

 described, we have no doubt that old carp are as wily as ancient 

 foxes. 



This gentleman, it will be observed, confirms Dr. Smith's 

 statement as to carp becoming gradually white from old age ; 

 and it is a curious fact that great age and exclusion from the 

 light produce apparently the same effects both on fish and 

 other animals the skin or scales undergoing a sort of bleach- 

 ing process, either from a gradual drying up of the invigorating 

 juices of the body, or from want of the sun's rays. 



In the case of fish and reptiles whitened by exclusion 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 colourless hue, as also is a species of crawfish found in the 

 same subterranean waters. The Proteus angninus, inhabiting the 

 caves of Illyria, exhibits the same peculiarities. This singular 

 creature, which is apparently a link between the reptile and the 

 fish, presents in every respect the appearance of a blind pinky- 

 white eel, with four very thin eft-like legs near the head and tail. 

 When swimming, these legs fold back against the sides, and 

 they appear to answer no purpose except that of balancing the 

 animal when at rest on the ground. The specimen which I 

 examined was about a foot long, and was brought by a gentle- 

 man from the cave of Adelsberg, near Trieste. Its lungs or 



