Fewkes.] 518 [March 21, 



The President spoke briefly in regard to this vote and stated 

 that a special meeting of the Society would be called to consider 

 the action of the Council. 



The President then read a very interesting paper on the "Ser- 

 pent Mound" in Adams County, Ohio, which has recently, through 

 the aid of friends in Boston and vicinity, become the property of 

 the Peabody Museum. 



In the introduction he stated that the paper was complimentary 

 to the ladies and gentlemen who subscribed for the purchase of the 

 mound and the grounds about it. He then gave an account illus- 

 trated by stereopticon views of different portions of the Mound and 

 its neighborhood. 



Some excavations have been made but rather to restore the mound 

 to its original normal form which is at present preserved. A skel- 

 eton of huge size found in a smaller mound near by was spoken of. 

 Views of this and other skeletons found near by were shown on the 

 screen. 



The following paper, also illustrated by the stereopticon, was 

 read : 



ON THE ORIGIN OF THE PRESENT FORM OF THE 

 BERMUDAS. 



BY J. WALTER FEWKES. 



The contours of the several islands which form the isolated group 

 of coral formation called the Bermudas, are curved, crescentic or 

 ring-shaped. The whole archipelago rests on an oval foundation or 

 platform, and a marked feature of its outlines is the existence of 

 lagoons, enclosed or partially open circular basins of water called 

 sounds. The whole group is geologically formed of a soft seolian 

 limestone made up of calcareous fragments of the skeletons of cor- 

 als, and many other animals. 1 



The contour of the islands strongly reminds one of the compound 

 atolls or ring-shaped coral reefs so abundant in the Pacific and In- 

 dian oceans, and they have been described as atolls by several wri- 

 ters, among whom may be mentioned Dana, Thomson and Rice. 



Professors Dana and Rice have ascribed the present form of the 



1 This paper is preliminary to one in which the general and special facts, touching 

 on the theory that the present contour of these islands is due to erosion rather than to 

 subsidence, will be considered. The literature is considered in my final paper. 



