64 Geology of St. Croix, 



ant days ; about forty somewhat cloudy or foggy ; and about 

 twenty rainy, but of these nearly one half were smgle rainy or 

 showery days, leaving only about ten which were of a rain- 

 storm character. Musquitoes have bitten, and frogs have peeped 

 throughout the whole time, though not always in the same num- 

 bers or with the same spirit. 



It is perhaps a common impression, that there are some formi- 

 dable animals and many venomous reptiles in Florida. The alli- 

 gator is a clumsy, timid animal, never, it is believed, the assailant, 

 unless it mistake a swimming boy, for its common prey. Scor- 

 pions, snakes, lizards, &c., are common upon the barrens, and our 

 soldiers, in sleeping on the ground, often came in contact with all 

 of them, and were often stung by the former, generally with un- 

 pleasant, but never with fatal consequences. 



Invalids have long looked to Florida as a refuge from the north- 

 ern winter, and during the disturbances of the last few years, St. 

 Augustine has necessarily been the only place of resort. But 

 when peace shall be established, and the St. John's re-occupied, 

 that river will present many places of great attraction to the in- 

 firm and pulmonic. 



Art. III. — Geology of St. Croix; by Prof. S. Hovey, late of the 

 Faculty of Yale College, Ct., and Amherst College, Mass. 



During two winters which I passed at St. Croix for the recov- 

 ery of my health, I found great relief from ennui, the well-known 

 natural enemy of invalids in such circumstances, in examining the 

 physical features of the island ; and, had my observations been 

 more complete, the record of them might have been a valuable 

 contribution to science. Limited, however, and imperfect as they 

 were, I am unwilling entirely to suppress them ; especially, as 

 they relate to a quarter of the world highly interesting, and but 

 little known. Should they be productive of no other benefit, I 

 hope they may lead some more competent individual, who may, 

 perhaps, be driven, as I was, to seek refuge from the rigors of a 

 New England winter, in the balmy climate of the tropics, to con- 

 tinue the examination, and to present to the public the more am- 

 ple results of his investigations. My object in this article is to 

 give a brief outUne of the geology of St. Croix. Should time 



