X PREFACE. 



graphy for the delineation of coral-reef structures in the concrete, and of the living 

 organisms associated with them. A few of these photographic illustrations, it may be men- 

 tioned, were sent to England and exhibited, in the author's name, by Sir William Flower, 

 F.R.S., at the conversaziones of the Royal Society at Burlington House in 1891, while a more 

 complete series of them was displayed at the gatherings of the Royal Society held last year. 

 It may be said that by no process other than that of photography is it possible to represent 

 areas of coral-growths that are uncovered by the sea for such short and uncertain intervals, 

 accurately. Considerable originality may be claimed for these pictures. With one or 

 two exceptions, the most notable of which is an enlarged copy of a photograph of a small 

 foreground area of a Fiji reef, taken by the Hon. R. Abercromb}', on view in the coral 

 gallery of the British (Nat. Hist.) Museum, the subject has not previously been dealt with 

 under the camera. In no instance has it, as in this volume, been extensively or systematically 

 treated ; and it is hoped that the results herein attained may lead to a much more extensive 

 adoption, by biologists, of photographic processes, for the illustration of living corals and 

 other aquatic organisms. In the matter of the life-coloured figures included in the chromo- 

 lithographic plate series, it appears possible, as suggested in the concluding chapter, that 

 the new source of artistic design exemplified by these delineations may sooner or later be 

 turned to practical account. To those specially interested in the subject of reef-formation, 

 the series of enlargements of a selected number of the more characteristic reef-views contained 

 in this volume, which are issued by the same Publishers, will probably prove acceptable. In 

 many instances, these enlargements serve to bring into prominent notice structural details and 

 component organisms that are liable to escape attention in the smaller pictures. 



The extraordinary wealth of coral and other organic life prevalent throughout the Barrier 

 district, whilst necessarily dealt with in this volume superficially, is perhaps sufficiently 

 manifested to convey to biologists some idea of the rich field that it offers for original investi- 

 gation. Sufficient also is probably submitted to win from them a unanimous endorsement of 

 the author's views, expressed in the concluding chapter, respecting the unparalleled suitability 

 of the Great Barrier district in general, and of Thursday Island in particular, for the estab- 

 lishment of an efficiently-equipped zoological station. 



The acknowledgments that have to be chronicled in this prefatory notice are numerous. 

 The first and most substantial one is due to the Queensland Government, for the facilities and 

 material assistance liberally accorded, which have enabled the author to place on record so 



