Abstract
MR. W. K. MORRISON'S suggestion (NATURE, November 5) of the Bermudas as a site for renewed reef-boring experiments, and for the establishment of a permanent biological observatory is well worthy of consideration. It is, at the same time, desirable to remark that the Bermuda reefs scarcely appear to possess the most favourable conditions for boring operations. As long since recorded by Dana (“Corals and Coral Islands,” p. 361), the Bermuda coral rock abounds with caverns and fissures, and there would consequently be an imminent risk of negative results being obtained there, as has happened at Funafuti, through the uncontrollable infiltration of sea-water. The circumstance, also attested to by Dana, that the reef-making species of corals at the Bermudas are but few in number, and are constantly submerged to a depth of from, at least, one to four fathoms, places this island group, as a station for the especial investigation of coral-growths, at a disadvantage in comparison with many others that might be mentioned.
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SAVILLE-KENT, W. Suggested Reef Boring at the Bermudas—and elsewhere. Nature 55, 101 (1896). https://doi.org/10.1038/055101b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/055101b0
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