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. Robbins 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. 668—672. 
t Bobbins, W. W., and T. D. A. Cockerell, “Veronicella,” p. 383 — 
