THE GEOLOGY OF BERMUDA. 



HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF THE SUBJECT. 



The Geology of Bermuda has already been the subject of more or less 

 elaborate discussiou by several authors. An important memoir by 

 Lieut, (now Maj. Gen.) Eichard I. Nelson, R. E., is contained in the 

 Transactions of the Geological Society of London, Second Series, Vol. 

 y., Part first, pp. 103-123. This paper is based on observations made 

 in the years 1827-1833, while the author was stationed on the islands. 

 The excavations made in the construction of the fortifications under 

 his charge afibrded him admirable opportunities for the study of the 

 structure of the rocks, and his work gives evidence of thorough and 

 conscientious investigation. Though written before the genius of Dar- 

 win and Dana had given the world the true interpretation of coral reefs 

 and islands, and therefore failing to trace aright the history of the events 

 recorded in the Bermudian limestones, this pajjer is invaluable to subse- 

 quent investigators as a store-house of facts. J. Matthew Jones, F. L. S., 

 who has resided a number of years in Bermuda and paid much atten- 

 tion to its natural history, has given us important geological notices 

 in his Naturalist in Bermuda,* and Visitor's Guide,t and various papers 

 in the Proceedings and Transactions of the Nova Scotia Institute of 

 Natural Science, and in Nature. In 1873 Bermuda was visited by the 

 Challenger expedition, and important observations were made on the 

 geology, as well as other branches of the natural history, of the islands. 

 Some important points, notably the origin of the " red earth," were 

 first explained by the naturalists of the Challenger. Bermuda forms 

 the subject of an interesting chapter in Sir Wyville Thomson's work.| 

 Brief references to Bermudian geologyarecontained in the classical works 



* The Naturalist in Bermuda ; a Sketch of tlie Geology, Zoology, and Botany of that 

 remarkable group of islands ; together with Meteorological Observations. By John 

 Matthew Jones. With a map and illustrations. London, 1859. 



t The Visitor's Guide to Bermuda. With a sketch of its Natural History. By J. 

 Matthew Jones. London. 



tThe Atlantic. A preliminary account of the general results of the Exploring 

 Voyage of H. M. S. Challenger, during the year 187.3 and the early i)art of the year 

 187G. Bv Sir C. Wyville Thomson. New York, 1878. Vol. I., Chapter IV. 



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