ARTICLES 437 



postulated in the Rein-Murray theory, makes embayed shore- 

 lines and unconformable reef contacts impossible. Singularly 

 enough, few, if any, careful attempts were made to deduce the 

 essential consequences of the rival theories, with a view of 

 impartially selecting that one as the most probably correct 

 which yielded peculiar consequences corresponding to previously 

 unnoticed or unconsidered facts. Indeed, the searching de- 

 duction of contrasted consequences from the various theories 

 of coral reefs as a means of testing their validity has been 

 most unwarrantably neglected. 



Scientific opinion regarding the origin of coral reefs thus 

 seems to have been more largely guided in the later years of 

 the nineteenth century by subjective preference than by objec- 

 tive logic. The occurrence of subsidence was very generally 

 denied, and Darwin's theory was repeatedly rejected by 

 geologists who had previously accepted it, because it had been 

 suggested that atolls might possibly be formed without sub- 

 sidence. If fringing, barrier, and elevated reefs had also been 

 duly considered, defection from the theory of intermittent 

 subsidence would surely have been less general. 



It is not for a moment intended that other theories of 

 coral reefs than Darwin's should not deserve cordial considera- 

 tion ; for an investigator has no more manifest duty than to 

 hold his mind open for the invention and reception of new 

 solutions of old problems, however convincingly an already 

 adopted solution may appeal to him. But the mere announce- 

 ment of a new suggestion is not enough ; the suggestion should 

 be subjected to rigorous examination and verification before 

 an explanation, previously accepted on good grounds, is given 

 up and the new one is accepted. The fact that between 1880 

 and 1900 the Rein-Murray theory of atoll formation was very 

 generally adopted without any adequate verification shows not 

 only that scientific opinion was too readily turned toward a 

 new idea, but also that the previous belief in the theory of 

 subsidence must have been held without the warrant of inde- 

 pendent verification. When the history of science in the nine- 

 teenth century is written, it is to be feared that the chapter 

 on the origin of coral reefs will not be flattering. 



Verification of Coral-reef Theories. — Geology was a young 

 science and its methods were imperfectly developed in 1838 

 when Darwin first brought forward his theory ; the theory seems 



