[Mar., 1904. 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



33 



tion was organised in 181)7, under tlie diieclion of Prof. 

 T. \\". l-df;e\vorth David, of Sydnej', and a tliirdin i8y8, 

 with Mr. .\. V. Finckh as leader, for the further prosecu- 



Flg, 2. — .Model of Atoll, showing tEcneral shape and Submarine contour. 



tion of the work. The (inal result was the achievement 

 of a drill horint,' to the extraordinary depth of 1 1 14J feet, 

 and the hrinyjinj^ of a cor ', by which means the coniposi- 



tion of an atoll in its 



zoological and chemical 

 aspects has been actually 

 determined. How re- 

 i )ice<l the great naturalist 

 iif Down would ha\ebeen 

 (■.)uld he ha\e li\ed to 

 witness the realisation ul 

 his wish. We can pic- 

 I ure his eagerness to write 

 al once to 1 looker, and to 

 Wallace and .\gassiz. 

 I lis personal opinions re- 

 garding the dcNclopment 

 of coral reefs would not 

 have weighed for an in- 

 stant, since his open 

 mind had already dictated 

 the characteristic sen- 

 tence, "if I am wrong, 

 the sooner 1 am knocked 

 on the head and annihila 

 ted, so much the better." 



Although much scien- 

 tific literature has centred 

 around Funafuti in the 

 inler\ening years, it has 

 not been possible to 

 pilot the whole scien- 

 tific story of the borings 



Fijf. 3. — Hard Breccia Ma.ssts on Shore. 



