I goo] 



NATURE 



311 



support to the theory of the formation of such island-groups 

 as Truk by subsidence. This group was not visited by either 

 Darwin or Dana ; and I can well imagine that an investigator 

 seeing this group among the first coral reefs would readily 

 describe the islands as the summits, nearly denuded, of a 

 great island which had gradually sunk. But a closer examina- 

 tion will readily show, I think, that this group is not an excep- 

 tion to the general rule thus far obtaining in all the island groups 

 of the Pacific I have visited during this trip ; that we must 

 look to submarine erosion and to a multitude of local mechani- 

 cal causes for our explanation of the formation of atolls and of 

 barrier and encircling reefs, and that, on the contrary, subsi- 

 'nee has played no part in bringing about existing conditions 

 le atolls of the South and Central Pacific. 

 Nowhere have we seen better exemplified than at Truk how 

 important a part is played by the existence of a submarine 

 platform in the growth of coral reefs. The encircling reef 

 protects the many islands of :he group against a too rapid 

 erosion, so that they are edged by narrow fringing reefs, and 

 nowhere do we find the wide platforms so essential to the for- 

 mation of barrier reefs. The effect of the north-east trades 

 blowing so constantly in one direction for the greater part of 

 the year is of course very great ; the disintegration and erosion 

 of islands within its influence is incessant, and their action 

 undoubtedly one of the essential factors in shaping the atolls 

 of the different groups, not only according to the local positions 

 of the individual islands, but also according to the geographical 

 position of the groups. Thus far 1 do not think any observer 

 has given sufficient weight to the importance of the action of 

 the trades in modifying the islands within the limits of the 

 trades, nor has any one noticed that the coral reefs are all 

 situated practically within the limits of the trades both north 

 and south of the equator. 



The soundings made going west from Jaluit to Namonuito 

 indicate that the various groups are, as is the case with the 

 neighbouring groups of the Marshalls and Gilberts, isolated 

 peaks with steep slopes rising from a depth of over 2000 

 fathoms. The line we ran from the northern end of Namonuito 

 ■ to Guam developed the eastern extension of a deep trough 

 running south of the Ladrones. The existence of this trough 

 _ had been indicated by a sounding of 4475 fathoms to the south- 

 west of Guam made by the Challenger. We obtained, about 

 100 miles south-east of Guam, a depth of 4813 fathoms, a 

 depth surpassed only, if I am not in error, by three soundings 

 made by the Penguin in the deep trough extending from 

 Tonga. to the Kermadecs, and by three soundings made by the 

 U.S.S. Nero also to the eastward of Guam. 



Guam is not wholly volcanic ; the northern half consists of 

 elevated coralliferous limestone. The vertical cliffs bordering 

 the eastern face rise from a height of 100 to 250 or 300 feet at 

 the northern extremity, and resemble in a way similar islands 

 in the Paumotus (Makatea), Nine, Eua, Vavau and others in 

 the Fijis which had made their cliffs a familiar feature in our 

 explorations. In fact, outside of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, 

 this is the largest island known to me where we find a com- 

 bination of volcanic rocks and of elevated coralliferous lime- 

 stone. The waj-i-// forming the southern half of the island is 

 volcanic, and the highest ridge, rising to about 1000 feet, runs 

 lallel to the west coast, the longest slope being toward the east. 

 This volcanic mass has burst through the limestone near 

 ;.uia, and the outer western extension of the coralliferous 

 limestone exists only in the shape of a few spurs running out 

 from the volcanic mass, the largest of which are those forming 

 the port of San Luis d'Apra. Near the northern extremity of 

 the island a volcanic mass. Mount Santa Rosa, has burst 

 through the limestone and rises about 150 feet above the general 

 level of that part of the island. 



We left Guam in time to reach Rota by day, and found that 

 this island is a mass of elevated coralliferous limestone, the 

 highest cliffs of which reach a height of 800 feet. Perhaps in 

 none of the elevated islands have we been able to observe the 

 terraces of submarine elevation as well as at Rota, 



It is quite probable that others of the Ladrones, like Saipan, 

 and the islands to the south, are composed in part at least of 

 elevated limestone, judging from the hydrographic charts and 

 the sketches which accompany them. On many of the northern 

 Ladrones there are active volcanoes, so that it is very possible 

 that the volcanic outbursts which have pushed through the 

 limestones, or have elevated parts of the islands of the group, 

 are of comparatively recent date. 



NO. 1604, VOL. 62] 



During the last part of our cruise, from Suva to Guam, the 

 unfavorable weather greatly interfered with our deep-sea and 

 pelagic work ; in fact with the exception of the soundings 

 made to develop as far as practicable the depths in the regions 

 of the various coral-reef groups we visited, we abandoned all 

 idea of carrying out the deep-sea and pelagic work planned for 

 the district between the Gilbert and Marshall and Caroline 

 groups. To our great disappointment hardly any marine work 

 could be accomplished, and our investigations were limited 

 almost entirely to the study of the coral reefs of the regions 

 passed through. 



We were everywhere received with the greatest cordiality 

 and courtesy : by the Governor of the Paumotus, the King of 

 Tonga, Sir George O'Brien (the High Commissioner of the 

 Western Pacific at Suva), Mr. E. Brandeis (the Landes-Haupt- 

 mann in charge of the Marshall Islands at Jaluit), and the 

 Governor of the Carolines, and the Japanese authorites. 



The work of the expedition was divided between Drs. 

 W. M. Woodworth, A. G. Mayer, and my son Maximilian, 

 who accompanied me as assistants ; and Mr. C. II. Townsend, 

 Dr. Moore, and Mr. Alexander of the Fish Commission, who 

 had also been detailed as members of the expedition. 



I must also thank Capt. Moser and the officers of the Albatross 

 for the untiring interest shown by them during the whole time 

 of our expedition in the work of the ship, which was so foreign 

 to the usual duties of a naval officer. 



UNI VERS 1 1 Y AND EDUCA TIONA L 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Mr. R. S. Clay, late lecturer in physics at the Birkbeck 

 Institution, has been appointed principal of the Wandsworth 

 Technical Institute. 



The Secondary Education Bill was read a second time in 

 the House of Lords on Monday, after a discussion in which 

 objection was raised to the limited character of the measure, and 

 the large powers reserved for the Board of Education. It is not 

 proposed to carry the Bill beyond the second reading this year. 



The first response to Mr. Chamberlain's appeal for further 

 funds for the scientific department of the Birmingham Uni- 

 versity has been received from Sir James Chance, who has given 

 the sum of 50,000/., subject to conditions to be arranged with 

 the University Council. The endowment fund of the University 

 now amounts to about 400,000/. 



The Pass List for the 1900 D.Sc. Examination of the Uni- 

 versity of London contains the following names : — Experimental 

 Physics : Reginald Stanley Clay, Richard Smith Willows, 

 Harold Albert Wilson. Chemistry : Thomas Slater Price. 

 Botany : Miss Maria Dawson. Zoology : Edgar Johnson Allen, 

 Charles William Andrews. 



Some interesting particulars with regard to chemical and 

 technical education in the United States were given by Prof. 

 Chandler, of New York, in his presidential address to the 

 Society of Chemical Industry last week. The most striking 

 feature of the American system of higher and technical educa- 

 tion is the fact that most of the institutions have been founded 

 and maintained by liberal gifts of money from wealthy citizens, 

 in many cases made during the donor's lifetime, and that only a 

 small number have been endowed or supported by the public 

 funds. Thus in 1899 over 33 million dollars were given in this 

 way, the largest sum being the 15 million dollars given by Mrs. 

 Leland Stanford, together with large tracts of land, to which as 

 yet no precise value can be attached, to complete the endow- 

 ment of the Leland Stanford Junior University. There are in 

 all 174 donors, averaging 190,000 dollars each. Schools of 

 chemistry are now so numerous in the United States that it is 

 almost impossible to state their exact number, but Prof. Chandler 

 said it is more than 100. In all there are 480 universities and 

 colleges, and 43 technical schools. In 1899 there were 9784 

 students pursuing professional courses in the schools of en- 

 gineering, while 1487 graduated that year, receiving the degree 

 of civil, mechanical, electrical, or mining engineer. The value 

 to the industrial development of the United States of such 

 an army of thoroughly-trained engineers and chemists cannot 

 be too highly estimated. 



The operations of the Technical Instruction Committee pf 

 the Cheshire County Council are extensive and satisfactory. 

 All the sums received under the Local Taxation (Customs 

 and Excise) Act of 1890 have been devoted to the promotion 



