94 THE BERMUDA ISLANDS. 



The remarkably broad and somewhat indiscriminate distri- 

 bution of most of these species shows almost beyond doubt 

 that they have been principally or largely transported through 

 the agencies of commerce. They, therefore, throw but little 

 light upon the subject of zoogeography, although it is interest- 

 ing to find that such a large number of forms can so readily 

 accommodate themselves to the varied conditions of climate, and 

 of the surroundings generally, which the different countries 

 present. The proportion of peculiar forms is greater than we 

 should have expected to find in a region which is in such fre- 

 quent communication with the mainland, and is supposed 

 to be of comparatively recent origin. But, as has alreadj^ 

 been seen, there are good grounds for believing that the 

 islands are more ancient than they are generally considered 

 to be — or, at least, that their fauna is. Mr. BoUman has de- 

 termined four species of myriapods in our collections, one of 

 which, a Spirobolus, is apparently peculiar to the islands. Of 

 the remaining forms, as far as it has been possible to determine 

 from imperfect specimens, one of the species is from the 

 Azores, another from Europe, and the third from the United 

 States. Of course the number of species collected is not 

 sufficiently great to give positive values in the matter of 

 distribution. 



Of the lower groups of animals, such as the sponges, corals, 

 and echinoderms, we have principally Antillean and Floridian 

 types represented. That this should be the case, more par- 

 ticularly with the reef-building corals, stands to reason. It is 

 less easy to account for the large number of peculiar or new 

 forms among the holothurians, unless it be on the assumption 

 of antiquity. But they may yet be discovered elsewhere, in 

 the West Indies, although if they existed in the Bahamas, 

 where we should naturally expect to look for them, they could 

 scarcely have failed to attract the eyes of the different natural- 

 ists who have from time to time visited the islands. They are 

 in the Bermudas about the most conspicuous objects on the 

 coral sands. 



