__ 7 — 



lyiiig all at oiic uuifonn dip. The convulsive motions, accom- 

 panyiug the forination of such elevations, precludes all reasona- 

 ble expectations of finding in it any such rcgularity of strata 

 and dip, as Mr. Darwin here assumes. He hiraself indeed furnishcs 

 a direct contradiction to that assumption, in his notice of the 

 mountain range of the Cape of Good Hope peninsula, the stecp 

 eastern side being composed of horizontal strata of sandstone, 

 and we know that the western sides, from the Lion's Rump 

 southward, not less precipitous, is composed of granite, up al- 

 most to the tops of that side. 



Yl. » Iq sorne paris of the sea , as we shali hereafter meation, reefs lio 

 »occur, which fringe ralher tlian encircle islands , the dislance froiu the 

 »shore being so sraall , where the inclination of the laud is great , ihat 

 » there is no difiiculty in understanding the growlh of tiie coral. Even 

 »in these fringing reefs, as I shall call them in contradistinclion to t)ie 

 »encircling, the reef is not attached quile close to the shore. This ap- 

 »pears to be the result of two causes , namely fust, that the water iiunie- 

 »diately adjoining the beach is rendered turbid by the surf, and tlierefore 

 »injurious to all zoophytes , and secondly , that the larger and more efii- 

 »cient kinds only (lourisii on the outer edge, ainidst the breakers of the 

 »open sea. The shallovv space between the skirting (fringing) reef and 

 »the shore, has however a very different character from 'he deep chatmel, 

 ssimilarJy situated , wilb respect to those of the encircling order." 



Mr. Dauwin needed not to have brought forward any evi- 

 dence, such as he does in the foregoing , antagonistic to his 

 theory. It is evidence in favour of it , that is here adduced , 

 of contravening there is a superabundance. Howbeit in many 

 places along the shores of Indonesia may be seen small spaces, 

 where the fringe of coral is fully attached to the shore, at 

 about the level of spring tide ebbs; these are spaccs, whcrc 

 there is no heavy surf on the beach, nor mud in the wafer. 

 Surf alone does not render the water turbid, but as it gene- 

 rally has sand or mud tossing about in it, these matters kill 

 the zoophytes within the spliere of their action, by friction 

 on their skins or hj choldng their mouths. Were we not 

 aware from what we have to examine as we proceed, that Mr. 

 Datj,win is not mcrely a master in the art , but a perfect adept 

 in the science of assertion, wc should ijnagiue tliat he L':ave 



