194 ORIGIN OF LIFE IN AMERICA 



Mr. Vanatta * recently made the interesting discovery that 

 several typical fresh-water species inhabit Bermuda. Among 

 them there is a Physa, two Planorbis, one Ancylus, a Palu- 

 destrina and a Pisidium. All are new to science. 



The genus Veronicella (Vaginula), of which a species (V. 

 schivelyae) inhabits Bermuda, includes slug -like creatures 

 which should certainly not be suitable for accidental dispersal 

 by the usually quoted agencies. It is of interest, therefore, to 

 note that Messrs. Bobbins and Cockerell f record a variety of 

 the Bermudan Veronicella from the Bahama islands, and 

 direct attention to its close relationship with the Mexican 

 Veronicella moreleti. 



From the foregoing brief survey of the Bermudan fauna it 

 is manifest that although that most destructive of all creatures 

 " man," has played havoc with the native animals and plants, 

 largely exterminating them, a recognisable residue has sur- 

 vived from remote times. As far as the ancestry of this relict 

 fauna can be traced, it seems to be derived from the south- 

 eastern and north-eastern States of America, from the West 

 Indies and even from southern Europe. Many species, par- 

 ticularly such as are unfit to take advantage of accidental 

 modes of transport, namely, the Bermudan skink, the 

 terrestrial nemertean worm, and various kinds of terrestrial 

 isopods and snails, are peculiar to Bermuda. Is there any 

 reason for the supposition that these animals, all of which 

 bear the impress of vast antiquity on them, were conveyed 

 to Bermuda in the past by accidental means ? We have no evi- 

 dence whatever that terrestrial invertebrates are transported 

 alive across seven hundred miles of sea and subsequently pro- 

 pagate their kind except through the agency of man. Why 

 should we assume, therefore, that Bermuda has received its 

 entire fauna and flora by accidental means such as winds, 

 hurricanes or ocean currents ? It is evident that the great 

 depths of the ocean surrounding the little group of islands is 

 the chief, if not the sole, stumbling block to the acceptance 

 of the survival theory. Yet in view of the fact vouched for by 



* Vanatta, E. G., " Bermuda Shells," pp. 668672. 

 t Bobbins, W. W., and T. D. A. Cockerell, "Veronicella," p. 383- 

 384. 



