1890.] NATLRAL SCIKNCES OF rilU-ADKLl'IIIA. 808 



THE CORALS AND CORAL REEFS OF THE WESTERN WATERS OF 

 THE GULF OF MEXICO. 



BY PROFESSOR ANGELO HEILPKIN. 



Oueof the peculiarities of Vera Cruz which almost first arrest 

 the eye of the traveler is the vast quantity of coral that has been 

 used in construction. The pier-fronts, the sea-wall, and the more 

 ancient houses show equally the use that has been made of this 

 material, the piedra de mucar of the inhabitants. Alexander von 

 Humboldt, in his Essai Politicjue sur la Nouvelle Espagne, speaks of 

 this piedra de mucar, and others after him refer to the same mater- 

 ial. The species of coral contained in the rock are mainly Orbi- 

 cella cavernosa (f), 0. annularis, Diploria cerebriforniis and M(e(tn- 

 f/?-/»r/ s^rt'^'o.sa, and since these species all inhabit the waters of the 

 warm Atlantic, in and out of the Gulf region, it would seem but 

 natural to assume that the Vera Cruz rock was obtained somewhere 

 in the vicinity of the city. On entering the port on a calm day the 

 growing coral-masses can be distinctly seen from the bow of the ves- 

 .sel, and all around are a number of islets and banks which closer 

 inspection shows to be made up almost entirely of living and dead 

 coral. The larger vessels anchor in the deeper waters that separate 

 the growing banks, while the smaller craft drop their anchors 

 directly on the heads of living coral. The small boat which lands 

 passengers from the steamers carries the traveler directly over a 

 line of reef, whose contours, barely removed more than a pole's 

 length from the eye of the observer, appear sharply defined through 

 the perfectly clear and transparent waters. 



In view of the peculiar conditions which surround these reefs, it 

 is difficult to understand'how it has come to be the general belief 

 among scientists that coral-reefs are not found in the western waters 

 of the Gulf of Mexico, a belief that has held its own for a period of 

 nearly half a century, or ever since Darwin published his classical 

 woi'k on the "Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs" (1842). 

 Thus, neither in the first edition of this w'ork nor in the last (1889, 

 edited by Prof. Bonney) is mention made of the occurrence of such 

 reefs, nor do they appear on the map of distribution which accom- 

 panies the work. Prof. Dana, writing in 1890 (" Corals and Coral 

 Islands," 8d edition), says : " But the west shores of the Gulf of 



