Geology of Antigua: 75 



Art. IV. — Geology of Antigua ; by Prof. S. Hovey, late of Yale 

 College, Ct., and Amherst College, Mass. 



As I passed but two or three weeks at Antigua, and as these 

 were principally devoted to a public object, I should not feel pre- 

 pared to give even an outline of the geology of the island, with- 

 out aid from foreign sources. This I fortunately have, in an in- 

 teresting article, prepared by Dr. Thomas Nugent, and published 

 in the fifth volume of the Transactions of the London Geological 

 Society ; and in another brief notice, written for the Antigua Al- 

 manac and Register by Dr. Thomas Nicholson. I had the hap- 

 piness to become acquainted with both of these distinguished 

 gentlemen, and to visit in company with them several of the most 

 interesting localities of the island. Were the articles, to which I 

 have referred, before the American public, I should not attempt 

 to add any thing more ; but as they are nearly or quite inaccessi- 

 ble to most of the readers of the Journal of Science, a brief sketch 

 of the geology of the island, will not, I hope, be an unacceptable 

 offering. 



Perhaps there is no island in the West Indies, whose geology is 

 so rich in variety and interest. It contains all the three forma- 

 tions, viz. indurated clay, recent calcareous deposits, and trap, 

 which I mentioned in a preceding article as constituting the West 

 India islands. They are all distinctly developed also within a 

 territory of moderate extent, and yet are separated by broad lines 

 of demarcation. But what constitutes the peculiar charm of the 

 geology of Antigua, are the uncommonly beautiful and variega- 

 ted silicious fossils with which it abounds. In this respeGt,yI 

 am not aware of the existence of any deposit in the world, which 

 can be compared with it. I should confine my remarks to these 

 extraordinary relics, were I not persuaded, that a knowledge of 

 them must create a desire to learn something of their geological 

 relations. For the purpose of best accomplishing the object which 

 I have in view, I shall not follow a strictly geological arrangement 

 in my observations, but having noticed the trap formation, I shall 

 describe the two others in the order of their contiguity, and then 

 give some account of the silicious minerals and fossils which are 

 more or less common to all the formations. 



