312 ORIGIN OF LIFE IN AMERICA 



group, however, ought to be disharmonic, for it will be com- 

 posed of quite a different mixture of animals and plants, since 

 they have been introduced accidentally from other land areas. 

 Accidental immigrants will also reach the continental islands 

 eventually in a similar manner. Thus continental islands 

 may be composed of two f aunal and floral elements, an original 

 and a secondary one. Oceanic islands, on the other hand, can 

 only contain a secondary faunal and floral element, and will, 

 therefore, not exhibit harmonic distribution. Since the dis- 

 tribution of the animals and plants on the Galapagos islands 

 is harmonic. Just as it is on the West Indian islands, both of 

 them, according to Professor Baur, represent the remains 

 of land-masses that have been split off from the adjoining 

 continent, and they have not risen from the floor of the 

 ocean. Though agreeing in his final conclusions with Pro- 

 fessor Baur, I am unable to follow him in regard to his defini- 

 tions of " harmonic " and " disharmonic." Some of the 

 Pacific islands are looked upon by Professor Baur himself as 

 remnants of a Pacific continent, others, I believe, are not. 

 Where is the exact distinction between them in tlie nature of 

 their fauna ? 



A few years later Professor Baur * once more returned to 

 the subject in order to answer the objections brought against 

 his theory by numerous critics. He also intended to make some 

 remarks on the geological history of the Pacific Ocean, and 

 from his preliminary observations it is evident he believed 

 in its comparatively recent age ; but before he could complete 

 his interesting series of articles his sudden death unfortu- 

 nately deprived us of further communications. Prom his 

 writings, however, we know that Professor Baur believed that 

 the Galapagos archipelago represented the remnants of a large 

 peninsula which joined the West Indies by way of Cooos 

 island and Central America. As some of his critics maintain 

 that in his views Professor Baur stands almost alone, and is 

 opposed by most of those who have discussed the fascinating 

 problem of the origin of the Galapagos archipelago, a few 

 remarks may be permissible in support of this theory. 



Alluding to the gigantic land-tortoises which have survived 



* Baur, G., " New Observations on the Galapagos Islands." 



