til A. E. Verrill — The Bermuda Islands. 



the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, viz. Messrs. C. M. 

 Cook, Jr., Clarence S. Verrill, and Wra. E. Porter, who did most excel- 

 lent and valuable work in helping me to gather very lai'ge collections; 

 and another expedition, made in the spring of 1901, with my son, A. 

 Hyatt Verrill, who not only made large collections, but also made 

 numerous colored drawings of the soft-bodied marine forms, and 

 about 200 excellent photographs, both geological and zoological, 

 including numerous photographs of living animals beneath the water, 

 and of living birds in their natural haunts. For a short time we 

 were joined by Dr. W. G. Van Name, who devoted himself mainly 

 to the Tunicata, and has since published a monograph of them. 



Besides the two large collections, made by myself and parties, I 

 have had for study, during many years, collections made by Messrs. 

 J. Matthew Jones, G. Brown Goode, and others. 



For historical subjects, I have consulted numerous works,* and 

 have quoted verbatim from some of them, when it seemed desirable 

 to preserve the exact wording and quaint spelling of the early writers. 

 The Memorials of Bermuda, by Governor Lefroy, 2 volumes, 1877, 

 is by far the most important work for the early history of the islands, 

 and I have quoted from it freely. 



In some respects the Bermuda Islands are almost unique. Very 

 few other islands, of similar size and situated in a favorable climate, 

 were destitute of aborigines when discovered by Europeans. Appar- 

 ently man had never set foot on the Bermudas until they were 

 discovered by the Spaniards, about 1510. The number of species of 

 land animals and plants peculiar to the Bermudas is unusually small 

 for islands of this character. No other islands situated so far from 

 the equator are surrounded by living coral-reefs, and the hills of 

 drifted and hardened shell-sand are unusually high for such a 

 formation. 



The outer reefs, with their enclosed lagoons, resemble the coral 

 islands or atolls of the Pacific, but they are not of the same nature. 

 They are the eroded remains of limestone islands, once of large size 

 and considerable height, like those still left, but much larger. They 

 may, therefore, be called pseudatolls. 



During recent years these islands have been much visited by 

 Americans, during the winter and spring months, either for health or 

 pleasure, or both. This is partly due to the fact that they have 

 become much better known than formerly, and perhaps still more to 



* For the titles of the more important historical works, see the Bibliography, 

 at the end of this work. 



