NELSON ON THE BAHAMAS. 201 



of two years in the colony, and is accompanied with several maps, 

 sections, and sketches illustrative of the islands, their conformation 

 and structure. A collection also of the corals, shells, and rock-spe- 

 cimens referred to in the memoir have been presented to the Society 

 by Capt. Nelson, and are arranged in the Society's Museum together 

 with the Bermuda collection previously presented by him. 



The observations on the Bermudas, written during 1830-33, and 

 printed in the Society's Transactions for 1837*, stand in such close 

 relation, says the author, to those of the present communication, that 

 the latter may be considered as a sequel to the former, justifying the 

 surmise ofFered at p. 121 of the Bermuda Memoir -f, that it is 

 " highly probable that the Bahamas were produced by the same 

 causes as those to which the Bermudas owe their existence;" and 

 showing that both groups are so far identical in character that they 

 may be placed on the same line in any geological system, as a pecu- 

 liar post-tertiary formation of a composite character, not only of 

 organic J origin, but as Neptunian below and "iEolian§" above. 



Capt. Nelson has arranged the results of his observations on the 

 Bahamas, as given in this memoir, as follows : — 



Part I, Descriptive. 



Section 1 . Geographical position and description of the different 

 groups. 2. Occupation of the surface : topographically considered. 

 3. Construction of coral reefs. 4. Construction of the ordinary 

 rock. 5. Lithological and mineralogical notices. 6. Increase and 

 decrease of land. 7. Freshwater. 8. Flora, and 9. Fauna, as con- 

 tributing agents. 10. Organic remains. 11, Meteorological notices. 

 12. Occupation of the surface : economically considered. 



Part II. Hypothetic. 



Section 1. Probable origin of the Bahamas. 2. On the prominent 

 circumstances aifecting the origin, form, and structural character of 

 the Neptunian portions of coral-formations generally. 3. On the 

 term "Formation," and on the position of coral-formations in our 

 geological systems. 4. On the relation between the continental and 

 oceanic ranges of Asia and America. 



Part III. Correlative. 



Comparative notes on the treatises of the more modern writers on 

 coral-formations: — 1. Pacific Ocean, Mr. Darwin ; 2. Red Sea, Prof. 

 Ehrenberg; 3. General, Sir C. Lyell ; 4. Pacific, Mr. Dana (not 

 finished) ; .5. Pacific, Mr. Couthony (not finished) ; 6. Pacific, 

 Capt. Kotzebue ; 7. Bermuda, Capt. Nelson ; 8. Notices of volcanic 



* Trans. Geol. Soc. 2 Ser. vol. v. pt. 1. p. 103 et seg. 



t Loc. cit. 



X See Bennuda Memoir, ^. e. p. Ill ; see also Proc. Geol. Soc. vol. ii. p. 159. 



§ I introduced this term in the Bermuda MS., but the passage in which it oc- 

 curred was inadvertently struck out by myself in making such reductions as were 

 practicable in the bulk of the paper, in which the proposal stood thus : " rejecting 

 the exclusive demands of either Neptune or Pluto, to admit the claims of ^Eolus 

 to a seat at the Board of Works." — R. J. N. 



