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ORIGIN OF LIFE IN AMERICA 
group, however, ought to be disharmonic, for it will be com¬ 
posed of quite a different mixture of animals and plants, since 
they have been introduced accidentally from other land areas. 
Accidental immigrants will also reach the continental islands 
eventually in a similar manner. Thus continental islands 
may be composed of two faunal and floral elements, an original 
and a secondary one. Oceanic islands, on the other hand, can 
only contain a secondary faunal and floral element, and will, 
therefore, not exhibit harmonic distribution. Since the dis¬ 
tribution of the animals and plants on the Galapagos islands 
is harmonic, just as it is on the West Indian islands, both of 
them, according to Professor Baur, represent the remains 
of land-masses that have been split off from the adjoining 
continent, and they have not risen from the floor of the 
ocean. Though agreeing in his final conclusions with Pro¬ 
fessor Baur, I am unable to follow him in regard to his defini¬ 
tions of “ harmonic ” and “ disharmonic.” Some of the 
Pacific islands are looked upon by Professor Baur himself as 
remnants of a Pacific continent, others, I believe, are not. 
Where is the exact distinction between them in the nature of 
their fauna ? 
A few years later Professor Baur * once more returned to 
the subject in order to answer the objections brought against 
his theory by numerous critics. He also intended to make some 
remarks on the geological history of the Pacific Ocean, and 
from his preliminary observations it is evident he believed 
in its comparatively recent age ; but before he could complete 
his interesting series of articles his sudden death unfortu¬ 
nately deprived us of further communications. From his 
writings, however, we know that Professor Baur believed that 
the Galapagos archipelago represented the remnants of a large 
peninsula which joined the West Indies by way of Cocos 
island and Central America. As some of his critics maintain 
that in his views Professor Baur stands almost alone, and is 
opposed by most of those who have discussed the fascinating 
problem of the origin of the Galapagos archipelago, a few 
remarks may he permissible in support of this theory. 
Alluding to the gigantic land-tortoises which have survived 
* Baur, G., “New Observations on the Galapagos Islands.” 
