THE GEOLOGY OF BERMUDA. Pag 
Good Hope*, though differing from them in some respects, particularly 
in the very general presence of woody fiber in the center. Darwin states 
that the ‘‘branched bodies” at King George’s Sound have ‘the central 
parts filled either with friable calcareous matter, or with a substalag- 
mitic variety; this central part is also frequently penetrated by linear 
crevices, sometimes, though rarely, containing a trace of woody matter.” 
In the similar bodies found at the Cape of Good Hope, he says, the 
“centers are often filled with black carbonaceous matter.” Darwin’s. 
theory of the origin of these bodies is that they were “ formed by fine 
calcareous matter being washed into the casts or cavities left by the 
decay of branches and roots of thickets buried under drifted sand.”{ The 
more distinctly tubular character of the Bermudian specimens, and the 
very common presence of a core of woody matter, seem to point to a 
slightly different mode of formation; and I believe the true explanation 
of the origin of the Bermudian “ branched bodies” is that given by Jones. 
He believes that they have been formed by percolating waters, which 
would naturally follow in their descent the channels formed by under- 
ground stems and roots, cementing the grains of sand into tubes of 
harder rock inclosing the stems and roots.{ Both theories assume the 
burial of the vegetation beneath drifted sand. But, while Darwin con- 
siders the bodies in question as casts formed after the decomposition of 
the stems and roots, Jones considers them as having been formed by 
the cementing of the sand around stems and roots as yet undecomposed. 
Closely analogous to these *‘ branched bodies” is the sort of stalagmitic 
net-work formed in some localities around the roots and stems of smaller 
plants. 
Essentially analogous, also, are probably the so-called ‘palmetto 
stumps.” These have been described by Nelson,§ Jones,|| and Thomson. 
They appear generally as shallow, cup-shaped or saucer-shaped cavities, 
a few inches in diameter, the rim somewhat elevated above the general 
surface of the ground, the bottom evenly rounded and pitted with small 
depressions. The surface of these cups is quite hard; and the rock 
* Geological Observations on the Volcanic Islands and parts of South America visited 
during the Voyage of H. M. S. Beagle. Second edition. London, 1876. pp. 161-165. 
Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries visited 
during the Voyage of H. M. S. Beagle round the World. Newedition. New York, 
1875. p. 450. 
t Geological Observations, p. 163. 
} Geological Features of the Bermudas, p. 24. 
§ Op. cit., pp. 115, 116. 
|| Geological Features of the Bermudas, p. 21. 
| Op. ctt., Voi. I., pp. 306-311. 
