BRANNER: THE STONE REEFS OF BRAZIL. 213 
the reef . . . its general direction oscillates a little about that of the 
reef." Не refers to the eroded condition of the reef, and to the polyps 
on its outside face, and says the quartz grains and shells are held 
together by a siliceous lime cement. ; 
The most remarkable point in this letter is that the author finds in 
the direction of the reef confirmation of Élie de Beaumont’s theory of 
the parallelism of structural features of the earth’s crust; that the reef 
follows these lines even more closely than the coast-line, and that it 
agrees “with the direction of the Western Alps.” 
Liais, Emmanuel. Climats, géologie, faune et géographie botanique du 
Brésil. Paris, 1872, pp. 256-261. 
The reefs are considered as proof of very recent elevations along the 
Pernambuco coast (p. 256). “The reef rock is a sandstone composed 
of quartzose grains and of fragments of shells hardened by a siliceous 
calcareous cement, and presenting a schistoid structure.” Some of the 
Shell fragments he found petrified. The beds of rock dip seaward, he 
says, at an angle of 35° to 40°. Near Serrambi, and south of there, 
he says, he saw on the shore a part of the reef standing vertically. He 
states that the reef is never crooked (“ Jamais il ne se courbe”). The 
surface decay is noted, and the protection given by polyps. He repeats 
his earlier statement that the coast-line is “modelled on that of the 
reef.” In age he thinks that the reef marks the close of the Quaternary 
and shows the last elevation of the coast. 
Lisbóa, Alfredo. Memoria descriptiva e justificativa do projecto do 
melhoramento do porto do Recife . . . por Alfredo Lisbóa ... 
em 1887. Pernambuco, 1887. 
This report has a very good map of the northern end of the reef. 
The description of the Pernambuco reef is short but excellent. He ob- 
Serves that the reefs of the coast are not continuous; that they are 
never higher than the highest tides; he gives the direction as 8. 19° 
32 W. (true), with a length of three thousand one hundred and twenty 
metres to the Barreta das Jangadas, and a width of twenty to sixty 
metres. He notes the composition correctly, and thinks the sands hard- 
ened by lime derived from the shells (р. 6-8). On р. 98-100, the 
author quotes the opinion of Hartt in regard to the origin and nature of 
the reefs of Brazil. 
Malte-Brun, M. Universal geography, or a description of all parts of 
the world. IIL, p. 389 and 401.. Philadelphia, 1827. 
