THE GEOLOGY OF BERMUDA. 27 



Good Hope*, though difiering from them in some respects, particularly 

 in the very general presence of woody fiber in the center. Darwin states 

 that the "branched bodies" at King George's Sound have "the central 

 parts filled either with friable calcareous matter, or with a substalag- 

 mitic variet3'5 this central part is also frequently penetrated by linear 

 crevices, sometimes, though rarely, containing a trace of woody matter.'^ 

 In the similar bodies found at the Cape of Good Hope, he says, the 

 "centers are often filled with black carbonaceous matter." Darwin's 

 theory of the origin of these bodies is that they were " formed by fine 

 calcareous matter being washed into the casts or cavities left by the 

 decay of branches and roots of thickets buried under drifted sand." t The 

 more distinctly tubular character of the Bermudian specimens, and the 

 very common presence of a core of woody matter, seem to point to a 

 slightly diflerent mode of formation ; and I believe the true explanation 

 of the origin of the Bermudian "branched bodies" is that given by Jones» 

 He believes that they have been formed by percolating waters, which 

 would naturally follow in their descent the channels formed by under- 

 ground stems and roots, cementing the grains of sand into tubes of 

 harder rock inclosing the stems and roots.f Both theories assume the 

 burial of the vegetation beneath drifted sand. But, while Darwin con- 

 siders the bodies in question as casts formed after the decomposition of 

 the stems and roots, Jones considers them as having been formed by 

 the cementing of the sand around stems and roots as yet undecomposed. 

 Closely analogous to these " branched bodies" is the sort of stalagmitic 

 net- work formed in some localities around th* roots and stems of smaller 

 plants. 



Essentially analogous, also, are probably the so-called "palmetto 

 stumps." These have been described by lsrelson,§ Jones,|| and Thomson.^ 

 They appear generally as shallow, cup-shaped or saucer-shaped cavities, 

 a few inches in diameter, the rim somewhat elevated above the general 

 surface of the ground, the bottom evenly rounded and pitted with small 

 depressions. The surface of these cups is quite hardj and the rock 



* Geological Observations on the Volcanic Islands and parts of South America visited 

 during the Voyage of H. M. S. Beagle. Second edition. London, 1876. pp. 161-165. 

 Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries visited 

 during the Voyage of H. M. S. Beagle round the Worid. New edition. New York,, 

 1875. p. 450. 



t Geological Observatious, p. 163. 



t Geological Features of the Bermudas, p. 24. 



$ Op. cit., pp. 115, 116. 



II Geological Features of the Bermudas, p. 21. 



U Op. cit., Vol. I., pp. 306-311. 



