PELE A VOLCANIC TYPE 257 



turn but one of a group of similar mechanisms or the part of a still 

 larger mechanism beneath the numerous active, quiescent, and extinct 

 volcanoes, constituting all the Caribbean islands, and from all of which 

 the interior magma has tended to break forth repeatedly and in a similar 

 manner. 



In fact, these islands as a group constitute a vast battery of volcanoes- 

 living and extinct — which from time to time and through countless ages 

 have been the outward manifestations of the interior activities of our 

 supposedly dead but wonderfully living world. 



That the vents are all but chimneys from a common source of supply 

 was certainly indicated by the recent synchronism of the Martinique and 

 Saint Vincent eruptions.* 



HOW THE LARGER STORY MA Y BE STUDIED 



Since the larger story of Pele" is that of the Windward archipelago, and 

 also since it extends far back of the present into past geological time, it 

 can only be understood or appreciated by those who can follow a brief 

 statement of the simple geologic origin and history of the projecting and 

 submerged members of the archipelago. This is based on the careful 

 investigation of three lines of evidence which can here be only briefly 

 summarized with the omission of the technical details. These are the 

 physiography, including the processes of land construction and destruc- 

 tion, now in operation in the region ; the stratigraphy, and the paleon- 

 tology. 



This is neither the time nor place to present the wearisome technical 

 details of petrography, stratigraphy, and paleontology, on which scien- 

 tific deductions are founded.f but if the reader desires to comprehend 

 this larger story he must grasp the conclusions which will now be pre- 

 sented and summarized. 



The processes of vulcanism, coral reef building, atmospheric degrada- 

 tion, and marine erosion at present in operation are the same as those 

 which have taken place in the past and explain satisfactorily all the land 

 building and land destroying operations that have previously taken 

 place. 



Thus topographic study of the visible forms of land and the contours 



* Whether this larger Caribbean volcanic mechanism is local or whether it in turn is but a part 

 of a general condition of the entire center of the earth, from which all volcanic vents are fed, is 

 also a subject worthy of far more consideration than it has received. 



t Prior to the recent eruptions the writer, in cooperation with Professor Alexander Agassiz, made 

 two expeditions to these islands in order to ascertain their eceology and history. 



In pursuing these researches and in the present paper he has endeavored, without prejudice in 

 favor of any hypothesis whatsoever, to ascertain the actual facts. The detailed technical results 

 of these studies will be published at an early date by the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 

 University. 



