68 Field and Forest Rambles. 



small, are said to be bright and piercing. In Mexico, Cali- 

 fornia, and Texas there are reported to be eight or nine other 

 species besides the above. The condition of the cornea 

 just described seems more or less common to all animals that 

 spend a portion or the whole of their existence in darkness, 

 and may arise from prolonged disuse of the organ. I have 

 repeatedly observed, in the case of bears and other animals 

 which spend the winter in a dormant state, that their cornece 

 were almost lustreless in spring, and never so bright as subse- 

 quently after exposure to light. Moreover it will be, I think, 

 generally found that wherever one of the senses is defective 

 another is unusually acute. The moose, as will be before 

 noted, has a relatively small eye, but very acute senses of 

 smell and hearing ; the bear is the same ; and hundreds of 

 similar examples are familiar to natural observers. I wonder 

 if the blind rats of the Kentucky caves possess acute hearing 

 and smell, such as the moles and other subterranean mammals. 

 I must confess there is a very regular accordance between the 

 size and brilliancy of the eye and the animal's habits, whether 

 it searches for subsistence in daylight, twilight, or in total dark- 

 ness ; and the modifications of the organ, from use or disuse. 

 All seem to be owing to natural selection, for no careful 

 observer can gainsay Mr. Darwin's words, " that use strengthens 

 and enlarges certain parts, and disuse diminishes them, and 

 that such modifications are inherited." * 



The Otter of Canada is said to differ from the European 

 species f by having a larger muffle, with the pads of the feet 

 separated from the toes by hair ; the fur is also richer, and 

 more of a chestnut-brown. 



With all the reclamation of the forest tracts of Canada, and 

 the destruction of their wild quadrupeds, it is particularly 

 pleasing to the naturalist to learn that several species which 

 had been on the verge of extinction are again returning to 



* " Origin of Species," p. 134. 



f Baird, "Pacific Railway Report," vol. viii., p. 186. 



