126 GLEANINGS FROM NATURE. 



finds its way wherever the water is deep enougli to 

 allow it passage. 



In captivity this fish eats very little. Dr. Sloan, of 

 New Albany, who kept specimens in an aquarium for 

 20 months, Rays : "They have taken no food, except 

 what has grown up in the water and on the sand in 

 their tank. . . . Some of them would strike 

 eagerly at any small body thrown in the water near 

 them, rarely missed it, and in a very short time ejected 

 it from thtfir mouths with considerable force. I often 

 tried to feed them with bits of meat and fresh worms, 

 but they retained nothing. On one occasion I missed 

 a small one and found his tail projecting from the 

 mouth of a larger one; I captured and released him/' 



In nature they doubtless feed upon one another and 

 upon the blind crayfish and smaller crustaceans which 

 inhabit with them the streams of caves. A number 

 of those captured were " nosing," as they slowly swam, 

 the rocks along the sides of the pools, and it is possi- 

 ble that they gather some organic matter from the 

 slime on these rocks. 



CIJFTY CAVKS. 



The mouths of the two Clifty caves are about 200 

 yards apart, and are located at the head of a deep and 

 narrow valley about three miles north of Campbells- 

 burg, Washington County. Clifty Creek has its 

 source in the streams which emerge from the caves, 

 and flows in a north-westerly direction about four 

 miles to White River, into which it empties. Its val- 

 ley,, especially the upper half, is noted for the wild 



