1891.] The Origin of the Galapagos Islands. 307 
ON THE ORIGIN OF THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS. 
BY G. BAUR. 
(Continued from page 229.) 
i STARTED with the sentence that continental islands must 
have a harmonic flora and fauna. In the Galapagos we found 
absolute harmony; my conclusion, therefore, is: Zhe Galapagos 
are continental islands, originated through subsidence ; they all 
formed at a past period one large island, and this island itself was 
at a still former period in connection with the American conti- 
‘nent. This result is in direct opposition to the opinion of all 
authors who*have worked on this group of islands, like Darwin, 
Hooker, Salvin, Grisebach, Engler, M. Wagner, Wallace, Peschel. 
All declare that these islands are of recent volcanic origin, that 
they have emerged out of the sea through volcanic activity, 
and that they have become peopled from the continent succes- 
sively. Henri Milne-Edwards alone holds a different opinion ; he 
believes that the Galapagos represent the remains of a former 
continent, and in this opinion I agree. 
The principal reason of the believers of the elevation theory is 
the volcanic condition of the islands. But I do not see any diffi- 
culty in that. If mountain ranges like the Himalayas, the Alps, 
the Andes, the Rocky Mountains, could be elevated thousands 
and thousands of feet, why could not subsidence take place in 
other places? If Central America should disappear by-and-by 
through subsidence, the result would be that the tops of the 
highest mountains would form volcanic islands, some with still 
active volcanoes. This would be exactly the condition we see 
to-day in the Galapagos. I think, therefore, that the volcanic 
nature of a group of islands is no positive proof of its recent 
origin. Such groups of islands can be just as well considered as 
formed by the tops of the volcanic mountains of a sunken part of 
a continent. 
But at first let us consider how the facts of the distribution 
of flora and fauna agree with the elevation theory. Islands which 
