228 THE BERMUDA ISLANDS. 



bee. But I am by no means convinced, as I have elsewhere 

 stated (chapter on the " Coral-Reef Problem "), that a nearly 

 simultaneous subsidence did not take place in (and form) what 

 are now known as the Straits of Florida. The existence of such 

 a subsidence Bruch is considered likely by Suess (Antlitz dcr 

 Erde, vol. I), who. has paralleled it with (supposed) simi- 

 lar occurrences in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. 

 This view of the formation of the deep Gulf-channel, I must 

 confess, appears to me far more captivating than that which 

 ascribes it to the wash of the Gulf-current. 



But I believe direct evidence pointing to (although by no 

 means proving) a former connection between the Floridian 

 peninsula and the mainland to the south is not wanting. In 

 a paper on " The Value of the f Nearctic ' as one of the Primary 

 Zoological Regions," published in the Proceedings of the Acad- 

 emy of Natural Sciences of Phila. for 1882, I pointed out 

 certain facts in favor of considering the lower portion of the 

 peninsula as a part of the Neotropical, rather than of the Nearctic, 

 realm; more recent zoological researches have still further de- 

 monstrated the correspondence existing between this southern 

 fauna and that of the tract lying to the south. But 

 more significant is the finding of the large assemblage of 

 mammalian remains which have lately been brought to light 

 from various parts of the peninsula. These have been deter- 

 mined by Dr. Leidy to be the skeletal parts of the elephant, 

 mastodon, llama, rhinoceros, tapir, Hippotherium, the sabre- 

 tooth tiger (Machairodus), Glyptodon,etc. (Leidy: Proc. Acad. 

 Nat. Sciences of Phila.. 1884-89). Neither the sabre-tooth nor the 

 Glyptodon, both of which are so closely related to the commoner 

 South American forms as to be barely distinguishable from 

 them, have heretofore been found in the Southern United 

 States. Of course they may yet be found, and indicate a pas- 

 sage over from South America by way of Mexico and the 

 Southern United States. But the great abundance of these re- 

 mains on the Floridian peninsula, and their absence either in 

 whole or in part from the Gulf States, are facts which, so far as 



