A CRUCIAL TEST 99 



building corals as far down as the reef extends ; if, on the 

 other hand, Sir John Murray's explanation make a nearer 

 approach to the truth, layers of chalky ooze will be 

 present at depths greater than that of the limit of coral 

 growth (Fig. 25). 



No one who has any notion of the extraordinary 

 thoroughness with which Darwin attacked this as every 

 other problem that he investigated, will be at all 

 surprised to learn that the same solution had already 

 occurred to him, and in a letter to A. Agassiz (May 5, 

 1881) he sighs for " some doubly rich millionaire, who 

 would take it into his head to have borings made in some 

 of the Pacific and Indian atolls, and bring home cores 

 for slicing from a depth of 500 or 600 feet." As the 

 wished-for millionaire did not appear to be forthcoming, 

 it appeared to me that the boring might be achieved in 

 another way, by a method very familiar to this Associa- 

 tion I allude, of course, to a "Committee." On ap- 

 proaching Prof essor Bonney with a suggestion to this effect 

 he warmly entertained the proposal, and in 1891 a strong 

 Committee, including the most distinguished supporters 

 and opponents of Darwin's theory, was formed, having 

 for its object the investigation of an atoll by boring and 

 other means. 



Through the kind offices of Professor Stuart, of Sydney, 

 we obtained from the Government of New South Wales 

 the offer of the free loan of a diamond drill. Our next 

 step was to select an island for investigation. This was 

 rendered an easy task through the invaluable assistance 

 afforded by Admiral Wharton, whose extensive knowledge 

 of coral-reefs renders him one of the most formidable of 

 Darwin's opponents. At his suggestion our choice fell 

 on Funafuti, one of the Ellice or Lagoon Islands, situated 

 in the middle of the Pacific (lat. 8J S.), seven days' sail 

 northwards of Fiji. No better selection could possibly 



