I go NATURAL SCIENCE. March. 



re'non is one where such an occurrence is very Hkely to have 

 happened, for deep-water deposits of late Tertiary age occur in many 

 of the islands ; while the raised coral-reefs which are found in the 

 same islands, and reach up to a height of 1,800 ft. above the sea, 

 prove that there has been recent upheaval to at least that extent. 



Many of the smaller islands are volcanic, and may have been 

 thrown up at any time ; but Barbados, the most westerly of all the 

 islands, has just the features of which we are in search ; in its faunal 

 aspect it is decidedly oceanic, while its geological structure is a 

 curious combination, being partly continental and partly oceanic. 

 The facts of the case are so remarkable that a brief review of them 

 may here be given. 



Barbados stands on a submarine bank or ridge which slopes away 

 in every direction till a depth of more than 1,000 fathoms is reached. 

 The core and base of the island consists of stratified rocks, ordinary 

 sandstones, clays, and limestones, such as are formed in shallow water 

 near a coast-line Avhere rivers of some size carry detritus into the sea, 

 and these strata must have been deposited very near such a shore, 

 for many of the sandstones are composed of large quartz grains, which 

 Avould not be carried far from land. Above these shallow water 

 strata lie deposits of a totally different character, consoUdated oceanic 

 oozes, like those which are now found only in the deeper parts of the 

 ocean, and are known as Globigerina Ooze, Radiolax-ian Ooze, and Red 

 Clay. All these kinds of ooze occur in Barbados, and there is not 

 only a superficial resemblance between them and the modern oceanic 

 oozes, but a complete identity of structure, and a close analogy in 

 chemical composition ; upheaval and exposure to rain and weather have, 

 of course, effected some little alteration, but have not obscured their 

 structure. 



It is certain, therefore, that the shallow sea and the extensive 

 shore-line which it bordered sank to a very great depth, certainly to 

 more than 1,000 fathoms, and probably to as much as 2,000 fathoms 

 (12,000 feet). The site of Barbados was then part of the ocean-floor, 

 but after a time upheaval took place, and it was gradually raised 

 till it came within the sphere of reef-building corals ; a small coral 

 islet was the result, but as the upheaval continued, the earliest reefs 

 were raised above the sea, and the area of the island was gradually 

 enlarged. This process went on till the island attained its present 

 dimensions (about the size of the Isle of Wight), the soft oceanic 

 deposits and the still older sandstones and clays being protected 

 from the erosive action of the waves by a thick coating of coral rock, 

 except over a small area in the north-west part of the island, where 

 the rain has cut deep valleys through the stratified rocks, and by 

 carrying sand and mud into the sea has prevented the growth of 

 continuous coral reefs on that side. 



Now, an island with such a history must necessarily have 

 received its present fauna and flora in the same casual way as an 



