lO TIIK mnLDlXG, OF AX ISLAND. 



of the hard rock with a hammer or a handy stone, we shall probably fmd, on 

 examining the broken surface with the lens, that there are minute shells in it, 

 so small that they can be seen only with the help of the lens. These small 

 shells are globular and are often filled with lime, so as to look like tiny balls. 

 We perhaps think, as we look, that we should like to get them out of the rock 

 so as to study them more easily; but this would be difificult. As we look 

 around, however, we shall soon discover a hint that Nature has already done 

 the work for us; for the weather, acting on parts of the rock, has reduced them 

 to a fine powder, which we find lying on the hard ledges that have better 

 resisted the " weathering" process. 



Some of this powder we take home with us for examination, and we soon 

 find that in its present form we can learn very little from it, a good deal of it 

 being a fine dust which obscures the character of whatever harder grains the 

 powder may contain, "a fact which suggests that the first step is to wash away 

 that fine dust. This is best done in a small glass saucer, preferably of a dark 

 colour, or if of colourless glass the saucer may be placed over a dark fabric of 

 some sort for the examination of the contents. A small quantity of the powder 

 having been placed in the saucer, several washings will be necessary, the milky 

 water being poured off each time, after which we shall see that we have a fine 



NOTES ON THE SHELLS SKETCHED ON PLATE B. 



([.The globular shelLs are very abundant. Although found in the present oceans, they are not, as far as 

 known to the writer, found in the shallow waters around St. Croix, but it is quite possible 

 that they exist in the deeper waters outside the bank. They are generally one-fortieth of an inch or 

 less in diameter. 



/;. Commonly composed of a growth of three to five united balls. 



c. A pretty shell found rather abundantly at Bethlehem and elsewhere. The margins are translucent. 



/i-'. Similar, but apparently distinct species. The largest, "^," is one-tenth of an inch in length. The 

 kind "d" is abundant in one of the layers exposed at Anna's Hope. 



/^ Found at Anna's Hope ; the thirtieth of an inch in diameter. 



2. May be compared with the forms 2 and 3 below. 



/C'. May be compared with the form 8 below. Near the old mill, west of Barren Spot, a similar form 

 with a convex base is abundant. 



/. Found at Anna's Hope ; one-fifteenth of an inch in diameter. 



w. A minute pearly beauty from Anna's Hope, the sixtieth of an inch in diameter. 



I. One of the commonest species in the sea-sand, varying very much, apparently according to age. The 



dots in the upper part are intended to indicate the positions of some of the tiny chamberlets which 



form the entire shell, and in some cases are plainly seen, while in others they are hidden by the 



thickness of the porcelain-like shell. The whole shell is about the twentieth of an inch across. 

 2 and 3 are forms known as Miliolina (compare "/'" above). No. 2 is a plain shell, but No. 3 is prettily 



ridged. 

 4. A rare shell from Christiansted Harbour, the nearest to the straight kinds (compare "</" to "^" 



above) found by the writer in present-day sand. 

 5, 6, 7. Coiled shells, which compare with "/;' " x" and " w" above. 

 8. Conical shell (comjiare "i" above), 

 g. Fragment of a very beautiful flat shell, about the twentieth of an inch in diameter, which may not 



unfrequently be found alive adhering to the flat blades of the sea-grasses. The shell is so trans- 



pai-ent that the chamberlets show as dark spaces on a white ground and the whole shell, as seen 



through the lens, resembles a beautiful piece of lace. 

 10. A .shining, porcelain shell, the curved lines in the sketch representing .shadings in the shell. 

 II. A rather common shell in the sand. It is about the thirtieth of an inch in diameter, and is built up 



of a great number of tiny chamberlets, which in slightly water-worn specimens show as minute 



holes crowding the surface. 



