SUBTERRANEAN FISH.
A fact of much interest to students of natural history is vouched for by Cavalier Moerath, a civil engineer, formerly of Rome, and now visiting this country. This gentleman has devoted much labour and attention to the improvement of water-supplies in Italy. In sinking for water with one of Norton’s Abyssinian Tube Wells, he tapped a spring from which was pumped a tiny living fish. This fish had passed into the tube well through the ordinary perforations of about one-eighth of an inch. Examination proved it to have no eyes, clearly indicating that it belonged to an order intended to inhabit subterranean waters. The occurrence was certified to by two other gentlemen who were present when the fish was pumped up.
The site of the well is Fontano del Prato, near the old city of Cori, between Rome and Naples, and the depth is about seventy feet. The soil from which the fish came was fine sand. The strata passed through above this sand were volcanic loose earth, clay and water, other volcanic earth, rocks and sand, and clay. The temperature of the water was low—about forty degrees Fahrenheit. The water was fresh. The fish, we are informed, has been preserved in spirit, and is to be brought to England, when it will probably be exhibited at the Health Exhibition in London.