35^ The Oligocene OF THE Southern United States 51 



the conclusions of the preceding geologists, Prof. Agassiz, after a 

 visit to Florida in 1861, pronounced the countr}' rock to be a 

 recent coralline formation.* In his monograph on the reef, Prof. 

 Agassiz speaks of his surprise and delight at finding that the solid 

 foundation of the mainland consists of the same identical modifi- 

 cations of the coral rock which form the keys. 



Prof. Joseph Le Conte expounded the coralline hypothesis 

 with such skill that, for thirty years, it remained the established 

 theory. He remarks^ that Florida has been thought to consist of 

 the southward prolongation of the Georgia and Alabama Eocene, 

 and its shell limestone to bear a general resemblance to the White 

 Limestone. It is, however, a remarkable fadl that most of the 

 peninsula and the keys are of recent origin, the work of corals 

 still living in the vicinity. Whether any Eocene beds occur at 

 Tampa is still problematic. 



Coralliyie theory refuted by Smith in 1881 . The observations 

 of Mr. E. A. Smith, in 1881, compelled Prof. Le Conte;!: to 

 modify this view, and, in 1883, he limited the area of coralline 

 formation to the region south of the Everglades. || 



Mr. Smith§ traced the Vicksburg limestone by outcrops from 

 Jackson County in northwestern Florida to a point below Ocala. 

 Since Conrad and Tuomey had found in the Tampa region lime- 

 stone which the}' referred to the Vicksburg, Mr. Smith concludes 

 that "almost the whole State of Florida from the Perdido River 

 on the west, eastward and southward, including the middle and 

 western parts of the peninsula, certainly as far south as the 

 latitude of Tampa Bay, and probably, as far south as the latitude 

 of Charlotte Harbor, has, for its underlying formation, the white 



* Report on the Florida Reefs, Mem. Mus. Covip. Zool., 1880 (pub. by 

 Alex. Agassiz). 



t On the Agency of the Gulf Stream in the Formation of the Peninsula 

 and Keys of Florida, Amer. Jour. Set., 2nd ser., vol. 23, pp. 46 if. 



i Science, Dec. 14, 1883. 



II The coral area is now considered as comprising only the border region 

 on the south and southeast of the peninsula. The coral beds in Tertiary 

 times were evidently sporadic and did not form any extensive reefs. 



l The Geol. of Florida, Amer. Jour. Sci., pp. 292 fF. 



