THE GEOLOGY OF BERMUDA. 
HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF THE SUBJECT. 
The Geology of Bermuda has already been the subject of more or less 
elaborate discussion by several authors. An important memoir by 
Lieut. (now Maj. Gen.) Richard I. Nelson, R. E., is contained in the 
Transactions of the Geological Society of London, Second Series, Vol. 
V., Part first, pp. 103-123. This paper is based on observations made 
in the years 1827-1833, while the author was stationed on the islands. 
The excavations made in the construction of the fortifications under 
his charge afforded him admirable opportunities for the study of the 
structure of the rocks, and his work gives evidence of thorough and 
conscientious investigation. Though written before the genius of Dar- 
win and Dana had given the world the true interpretation of coral reefs 
and islands, and therefore failing to trace aright the history of the events 
recorded in the Bermudian limestones, this paper is invaluable to subse- 
quent investigators as a store-house of facts. J. Matthew J ones, F. L.8., 
who has resided a number of years in Bermuda and paid much atten- 
tion to its natural history, has given us important geological notices 
in his Naturalist in Bermuda,* and Visitor’s Guide,t and various papers 
in the Proceedings and Transactions of the Nova Scotia Institute of 
Natural Science, and in Nature. In 1873 Bermuda was visited by the 
Challenger expedition, and important observations were made on the 
geology, as well as other branches of the natural history, of the islands. 
Some important points, notably the origin of the “red earth,” were 
first explained by the naturalists of the Challenger. Bermuda forms 
the subject of an interesting chapter in Sir Wyville Thomson’s work.t 
Brief references to Bermudian geology are contained in the classical works 
* The Naturalist in Bermuda; a Sketch of the Geology, Zoology, and Botany of that 
remarkable group of islands; together with Meteorological Observations. By John 
Matthew Jones. With a map and illustrations. London, 1859. 
tThe Visitor’s Guide to Bermuda. With asketch of its Natural History. By J. 
Matthew Jones. London. 
{The Atlantic. A preliminary account of the general results of the Exploring 
Voyage of H. M. S. Challenger, during the year 1873 and the early part of the year 
1876. By Sir C. Wyville Thomson. New York, 1878. Vol. I., Chapter IV. 
