Sept. 19, 1872] 



NATURE 



415 



and zoological interest. It is exceedingly impressive to 

 see an extensive archipelago, of most recent origin, in- 

 habited by creatures so different from any known in 

 other parts of the world. Here we have a positive limit 

 to the length of time that may be granted for the trans- 

 formation of these animals, if they are in any v/av 

 derived from others dwelling in different parts of th? 

 world. The Galapagos are so recent that some of these 

 islands are barely covered with the most scanty vegeta- 

 tion, itself peculiar to these islands ; some parts of their 

 surface are entirely bare, and a great many of the craters 

 and lava streams are so fresh that the atmospheric 

 agents have not yet made an impression upon them. 

 Their agent does not, therefore, go back to earlier geolo- 

 gical periods ; they belong to our time, geologically speak- 

 ing. Whence then do their inh.abitantscome from — animals 

 as well as plants .' If descended from some other type, bo- 

 longing to some neighbouring land, then it does not require 

 sucii unspeakably long periods for the transformation of 

 species as the modern advocates of transmutation claim ; 

 and the mystery of change, with such marked and charac- 

 teristic differences between existing species, is only in- 

 creased and brought to a level with that of creation. If 

 they are autochthones, from what germs did they start 

 into existence .'' I think that careful observers, in view of 

 these facts, will have to acknowledge that our science 

 is not yet ripe for a fair discussion of the origin of 

 organised beings. 



Our stay in Panama has allowed us to make very ex- 

 tensive collections in the Bay and across the Isthmus. I 

 was surprised to find so little difference in the character 

 of the flora and of the terrestrial fauna between the 

 t'.vo oceans. Marked peculiarities are only to be found 

 among the marine animals, and even among them the 

 AmcTican character of the Atlantic and Pacific marine 

 fauna is unmistakable ; we are not surrounded by animals 

 recalling by their peculiarities the many groups of islands 

 of the Pacific. I expect that our visit in Acapulco will 

 confirm these impressions. L. Agassiz 



CAPTAIN HALL'S ARCTIC EXPEDITION 



THE Washington Clironiclc of August 26 contains the 

 following interesting account of the progress and 

 position of this important expedition : — " The Navy De- 

 partment has received later despatches from Captain Hall, 

 by the v.'ay of Tydskland and Copenhagen, completing 

 his official record up to the moment of final departure 

 from North Greenland. These despatches, which are 

 quite full, bear date off Tossak, Tussuissuk, N. lat. 73' 21', 

 W.long. 56^5', August 24, 1 87 1, and are, therefore, only four 

 days later than Hall's Upper Navik despatch, August 20, 

 1871, which reached the department within three months 

 by the way of Copeniiagen. The explanation of this long 

 delay in transitu is that there is no regular communica- 

 tion between Denmark and these far-off colonies but once 

 a year. Hall's Upper Navik despatches were timed to 

 reach the Danish brig just then sailing, and this present 

 letter sent back by native pilots, as he notes in concluding, 

 may have had near a year's detention in Disco. It seems 

 to have reached the American iSIinister at Copenhagen 

 about July 30. Although thus divested of any special 

 value as news, the present despatch is of much intrin- 

 sic interest. All on board the Polaris, officers, scien- 

 tific corps, and men, were well and in excellent spirits. 

 The seagoing qualities of the vessel had been tested 

 and found admirable ; the engines and machinery were in 

 perfect working order, coal and rosin in good supply, and 

 the ship's crew abundantly provisioned. For the long Arc- 

 tic night before them they had books, games, instrumental 

 music, &c. — in a word, everything that the thoughtful care 

 of the department could supply, or letters of credit at 

 Newfoundland and in Greenland furnish, had been laid 

 in to complete their outfit, and of all this Captain Hall 



makes characteristic and thankful acknowledgments. 

 Governor Elberg, of the Navik district, had accompanied 

 the Polaris as far as Tossak, the extremest northerly 

 limits of Danish jurisdiction as well as of civilised life, 

 and was to the last moment assiduous in his exertions to 

 further the interests of the expedition. Mainly through 

 his co-operalion Hall was fortunate enough at Tossak to 

 make up his complement of Esquimaux dogs — sixty 

 strong, healthy animals — a matter of almost vital im- 

 portance. He likewise laid in a large supply of dog food, 

 and considerably augmented his stock of reindeer-furs, 

 sealskins, &;c., for the adventurous voyage. At Upper 

 Navik the expedition had shipped Hans Christian, a 

 famous native hunter and dog-driver, with his wife and 

 three children. Jensen, the Dane, who was under promise 

 to join the expedition at Tossak, backed out at the last 

 moment. Governor Eiberg, of whose many kindnesses 

 Hall speaks with full heart, awaited at Tossak the return 

 of the native pilots, bearing this despatch to him, and it 

 closes with the. prow of the Polaris northward in the early 

 morning of August 24, with a complete roster of all on 

 board, thirty-three souls, and a fervent, hopeful prayer for 

 success. It will be remembered that Captain Hall's 

 previous despatches speak of his good fortune in meeting 

 at Holsteinburg the returning Swedish expedition, and 

 that the commander. Baron van Otter, kindly furnished 

 him copies of log, deeo-sea soundings, &c., assuring him 

 that the season was more than usually favourable, and 

 extremely wide iceberij-channels, &c. Of the same pur- 

 port was the information received of Governor Rodolph, 

 thirty years resident in North Greenland, who declared 

 the year to be more favourable for any northern voyage 

 than many years agone or to come. Acting on this in- 

 formation, and under discretionary power vested in him 

 by the Navy DepartnTrnt, Captain Hall had abandoned 

 the Jones's Sound route, and had decided before he left 

 Upper Navik that after stopping at Tossak he would 

 cross Melville Bay to Cape Dudley Digges, and from that 

 point steam direct to Smith's Sound, thence make all 

 possible attempts to find a passage on the west side of 

 the Sound from Cape Isabella up to Kennedy Channels, 

 wintering there probably in about the same latitude or a 

 little higher than Kane's winter quarters, and thence on 

 and up to the North Pole. The letter published in the 

 New York Times, April 25, purporting to narrate a dis- 

 aster to the Polaris and her return last February to Disco, 

 was a canard. Not one word of it has ever been credited 

 at the Navy Departm-nt. It is not believed that any 

 disaster has overtaken the Expedition, or.'that any ground 

 for apprehension exists." 



THE BLIND FISHES OF THE MAMMOTH 

 CAVE AND THEIR ALLIES* 



TH E Amblyopsis s/>elx!,'s undoubtedly has quite an 

 extensive distribution, 'probably existing in all the 

 subterranean rivers that How through the great limestone 

 region underlying the Carboniferous rocks in the central 

 portion of the United States. Prof. Cope obtained speci- 

 mens from the Wyaudoae Cave and from wells in its 

 vicinity, and in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at 

 Cambridge thci-e is a specimen labelled " from a well 

 near Lost River, Orange Co., Ind.," which, with those 

 from the Wyandotte Cave, is conclusive evidence of its 

 being found on the northern side of the Ohiof as well as 

 on the southern, in the rivers of the Mammoth Cave. I 

 have been able to examine a number of specimens from 

 the Mammoth Cave, and have carefully compared with 

 them the one from the well in Orange Co., Ind., and find 

 that the specific characters are remarkably constant. 



* Reprinted from the Aj'u-rUait I^atitralist, a sequel to '"The Blind 

 Crustacea of the Mammoth Cave." .See Nature, vol. v. pp. 445, 484. 



t I liave also been informed by Mr Holmes of Lansing, Mich , that 

 blind fishes have been drawn out of wells in Michigan. 



