268 JouRNAi. New ^'oKK R\'TnMoi.ncTr.\T. Socikty. fVol. xxii. 



ton. Mona Island, with its level lop elevated about 150 feet above the sea, 

 formed of limestone, full of caves, densely clothed with vegetation ; Desecco, 

 rising in a series of peaks, with its stratified rocks, as well as Porto Rico itself, 

 formed the subject of his remarks. The beauty of the scenery in the last 

 named mountainous island, which. Dr. Lutz said, was about half the size of 

 New Jersey, but twice as high, was shown by many pictures, while others 

 exhibited special features like the tree ferns, the isolated limestone hills near 

 the coast, the Indian carvings, the curious spider webs near cave entrances, 

 the cocoanut palms, bananas and other tropical plants, including one locally 

 called " Woman's Tongue," from the continual rattling of the dried pods of 

 beans. On account of the specimens being still unlabeled, the many insic'^ 

 obtained were not exhibited, but Dr. Lutz remarked on the unexpected abstm 

 of Cicindelidai; on the sea beaches. 



Dr. Britton, on request, spoke of West Indian distribution, as shown in 

 plants, saying that it was not necessary to assume land connection to explain 

 existing plant population, the forces of wind and water being sufficient. The 

 hurricane winds are known to transport light material for enormous distances ; 

 and while this view may not be wholly defensible, the forces mentioned are 

 very potent. The flora is more or less alike on all the volcanic ash islands, 

 as it is also on the larger islands, which may therefore have been once con- 

 nected; but such a connection as to Porto Rico is very doubtful. Mona Island, 

 lying between Porto Rico and Hispaniola, contains in its twenty square miles 

 no botanical element that could not apparently have been transported by wind 

 or sea. In the Bahamas the plant population, apart from endemic species, is 

 closely related to that of the mainland. To deny absolutely the possibility of 

 land connections would be fatuous ; but to claim that the great bulk of the 

 species have reached their present situation by forces of nature subsequent to 

 the formation of the islands seems reasonable. On the other hand, the effect- 

 iveness of the Mona Passage, eighty miles wide, between Porto Rico and 

 Hispaniola as a barrier is shown by its having stopped many species. 



Continuing, Dr. Britton said the isolation of Jamaica, as a floral province, 

 had been pointed out sixty years ago ; Cuba, southern Florida, and the Bahamas 

 appeared to constitute a second ; the volcanic islands, from St. Kitt's south- 

 ward, formed what might be called the fourth ; the constitution of the third 

 remains doubtful, awaiting zoological evidence to aid the botanical as well as 

 more details of the latter. Hispaniola remains the least known and may ulti- 

 mately be grouped with Cuba or with Porto Rico. No one can say which at 

 present, although the greater alliance seems to be with Cuba according to 

 recent authorities. Dr. Britton added that since the islands are all compara- 

 tively recent, geologically speaking, the Jurassic formation having only recently 

 been detected in Cuba, correcting the previous impression that the Cretaceous 

 was the oldest, the greatest difficulty in ascribing the distribution to wind and 

 water lies in the question as to whether there has been sufficient time for 

 these forces to effect it. 



In answer to Dr. Lutz, Dr. Britton said he thought the flora of Porto 

 Rico would eventually prove to be most closely related to that of St. Thomns. 

 but sufficient data were not yet at hand for a definite statement. 



