4 BULLETIN : MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 



the Tropical Pacific to take up the subject again and thus not duplicate 

 now the report on the results of the last " Albatross " expedition. 



As Professor David has examined not only the collections made by 

 Mr. Andrews, but also his report, I herewith add the greater part of a let- 

 ter he was kind enough to write me relating to the collections and report 

 of Mr. Andrews. This report, taken in connection with the monograph 

 of Christmas Island J (Indian Ocean) undertaken at the instigation of 

 Sir John Murray by Mi*. Charles W. Andrews, illustrates how com- 

 plicated a question the formation of an atoll is, even when we are able to 

 follow its stages in the pages of the history of its elevation. And nothing 

 shows more distinctly than the sections of Mango, of Tuvutha, and of 

 Singatoka, given by Mr. E. C. Andrews, how insignificant is the part 

 played by corals in the economy of an atoll. 2 



Newport, Rhode Island, 

 August, 1900. 



1 London, 1900. Printed by order of the Trustees of the British Museum. 



2 Charts of the Fiji Group and islands of the group will be found in "The 

 Islands and Coral Reefs of Fiji." Bull. Mus. Comp. ZooL, 1899, Vol. XXXIII., 

 Plates l-23 a . 



