Annual Report of tJie Connai. xli 



In 1872 occurred an event which determined the whole 

 course of his future Hfe : the famous "Challenger " expedition 

 was equipped and the ship sailed on her voyage of deep-sea 

 exploration with Professor Wyville Thomson as chief of the 

 scientific staff and John Murray as one of the naturalists. 

 'I'henceforward the furtherance of the study of oceanography 

 became the main purpose of his life. 



During the voyage he made numerous observations on 

 pelagic organisms, which were collected by the systematic use 

 of tow-nets, but he soon perceived that important and far- 

 reaching results were likely to be obtained by a careful examin- 

 ation of the materials forming the bed of the ocean at great 

 depths. This work led him to an investigation of the formation 

 of coral reefs and islands and to the theory which still bears his 

 name, and which offers an explanation of the formation of atolls 

 in places where the Darwinian theory based upon subsidence of 

 the ocean-bed is not applicable. 



Here reference must be made to a great service he rendered 

 to the expedition by undertaking the unromantic but very 

 necessary task of superintending the packing of the enormous 

 collections made during the cruise and dispatched home at 

 intervals from the various ports of call. The packages were alt 

 consigned to the University of Edinburgh, and, except for the 

 renewal of spirit which had evaporated, remained untouched 

 until Murray's return at the end of four years. Then began 

 the work of sorting and classifying the spoils and their distribu- 

 tion to the specialists who were to undertake their description. 



In 1 88 1 Murray succeeded Sir Wyville Thomson as head oi 

 the editorial department connected with the publication of the 

 "Challenger" Reports, and under his superintendence the 

 series of fifty ponderous tomes containing the scientific results 

 of the cruise was completed. Indeed, the concluding volumes 

 were issued at his expense, for the Treasury grant for publica- 

 tion was exhausted before the work was finished. The work 

 was to him a lal)our of love, and he spared no pains to make 



