DEDUCTION. GENERAL INSTANCES. l6l 



of the theory of the formation of coral islands 

 as the only one of his many hypotheses which 

 he had not to modify afterwards, and asserted 

 that therefore his study of coral islands was 

 more deductive in spirit than any other of his 

 investigations. 1 After the theory had held 

 sway for forty years in the geological world as 

 a complete explanation of coral reefs, it was 

 called in question by John Murray, who sought 

 to replace it by another which seemed to him 

 more reasonable. Murray has found some ad- 

 herents; the war of the two theories has been 

 waged more or less hotly ever since, and both 

 views are still in the field. Darwin's theory 

 is not superseded, 2 nor is it likely to be; but 

 it will nevertheless be somewhat modified to 

 adjust it to the greater knowledge 'of the 

 present. Indeed, if Darwin had lived to issue 

 another edition of his book, he would have 

 taken the new facts into account, as he did in 

 his latest correspondence. Here, again, he had 

 considered in advance many of the objections 

 that have since been raised against his theory. 

 But the chief interest of this case is derived 



1 Life and Letters, Vol. I. pp. 58, 83. 



2 Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, 3d edition, 

 Appendix by Prof. T. G. Bonney; Ibid., Bettany's edition, 

 Critical Introduction by Prof. John W. Judd. 



ii 



