Note * — Chapter VII · AUSTRALIA; NEW ZEALAND; CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

(Dr. J. Macaulay has fully described (“Edinb. New Phil. Journ.” volume 29 page 350) the casts from Madeira. He considers (differently from Mr. Smith of Jordan Hill) these bodies to be corals, and the calcareous deposit to be of subaqueous origin. His arguments chiefly rest (for his remarks on their structure are vague) on the great quantity of the calcareous matter, and on the casts containing animal matter, as shown by their evolving ammonia. Had Dr. Macaulay seen the enormous masses of rolled particles of shells and corals on the beach of Ascension, and especially on coral-reefs; and had he reflected on the effects of long-continued, gentle winds, in drifting up the finer particles, he would hardly have advanced the argument of quantity, which is seldom trustworthy in geology. If the calcareous matter has originated from disintegrated shells and corals, the presence of animal matter is what might have been expected. Mr. Anderson analysed for Dr. Macaulay part of a cast, and he found it composed of:—