THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE. 21 
these latter came from wells or caves, but probably from wells. 
They are all of about the same size, one and one-half to two 
inches in length, and are constant in their characters. Moreover, 
four of the seven specimens from the Mammoth Cave were females 
with eggs. These eggs were as large in proportion as those from 
Amblyopsis. The ovary was single and situated on the right 
side of the stomach, as in Amblyopsis. The difference in the 
number of eggs was very remarkable, each of the four specimens 
examined having but about thirty eggs in the ovary, while in 
three females of Amblyopsis (all, however, of nearly three times 
the size of Typhlichthys) there were about one hundred eggs in 
each. As in both species there were no signs of the embryos in 
the eggs, it is not probable that any of the eggs had been developed 
and the young excluded, nor is it at all likely that the great vari- 
ation in the number of eggs would simply indicate different ages. 
By a reference to the figures (Pl. 2), it will be seen that the pylorie 
appendages, stomach and scales of the two fishes are different. 
For these reasons, taken in connection with the absence of ven- 
tral fins, I have no hesitation in accepting Dr. Girard’s name as 
valid for this genus, of which we thus far know of but one species, 
with a subterranean range from the waters of the Mammoth Cave, 
south to the northern portion of Alabama. In this connection it 
would be most interesting to know the relations of the “blind 
fishes” said to have been found in Michigan. For thus far we 
have Typhlichthys limited to the central and southern portion of 
the subterranean region, Amblyopsis to the central, and the spe- 
cies in the northern portion undetermined. 
In 1853, on his return from a tour through the southern and 
western states, Prof. Agassiz gave a summary of some of his 
ichthyological discoveries in a letter to Prof. J. D. Dana.* In this 
letter are the following remarks :— 
opsis, the anal aperture far advanced under the throat, but is en- 
tirely deprived of ventral fins; a very strange and unexpected 
combination of characters. I know but one species, Ch. cornutus 
Ag. It is a small fish scarcely three inches long, living in the 
ditches of the rice fields in South Carolina. I derive its specific 
* Published in American Journal of Sci. and Arts, Vol. 16 (2d series), p. 134, 1853. 
