. Island life; or, the phenomena and causes of insular faunas and floras, including a revision and attempted solution of the problem of geological climates. ypical examples of oceanic islands, for the purpose of illus-trating the laws, and solving the problems presented by thedispersal of animals, we will pass on to other cases which havebeen less fully discussed in that work. BERMUDA. The Bermudas are a small group of low islands formed of coral,and blown coral-sand consoUdated into rock. They are situatedin 32° N. Lat, about 700 miles from North Carolina, and some-what farther from the Baham
. Island life; or, the phenomena and causes of insular faunas and floras, including a revision and attempted solution of the problem of geological climates. ypical examples of oceanic islands, for the purpose of illus-trating the laws, and solving the problems presented by thedispersal of animals, we will pass on to other cases which havebeen less fully discussed in that work. BERMUDA. The Bermudas are a small group of low islands formed of coral,and blown coral-sand consoUdated into rock. They are situatedin 32° N. Lat, about 700 miles from North Carolina, and some-what farther from the Bahama Islands, and are thus rathermore favourably placed for receiving immigrants from Americaand its islands than the Azores are with respect to are about 100 islands and islets in all, but their total area 254 ISLAND LIFE. [part II. does not exceed fifty square miles. They are surrounded by reefs,some at a distance of thirty miles from the main group ; andthe discovery of a layer of earth with remains of cedar-treesforty-eight feet below the present high-water mark shoAvs thatthe islands have once been more extensive and probably included. MAP OF BERMUDA AND THE AMERICAN COAST. Note.—The light tint indicates sea less than fathoms dark tint ,, .. more than 1,000 fathoms deep. The figures show the depth in fathoms. the whole area now occupied by shoals and reefs.^ Immediatelybeyond these reefs, however, extends a very deep ocean, whileabout 450 miles distant in a south-east direction, the deepest part 1 Nature, Vol. VL p. 202, Recent Ohservations in the Bermrflaf^, by^Ir. J. IMatthew Jones. cnAi. XII.] REinrUDA. 255 of the North Atlantic is reached, where soundinixs of 8,825 and8,875 fathoms have been obtained. It is clear therefore thatthese islands are typically oceanic. Soundings were taken by the ClmUaujci in fjur differentdirections around Bermuda, and always showed a rapid deepen-ing of the sea to about 2,500 fathoms. This was so remarkable,that
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