Marcu 26, 1914] 
NATURE 
89 
some doubts had been thrown upon its universal | 
application. Murray, who was not always dis- 
posed to accept the conclusions of his predecessors 
without subjecting them to rigorous investigation, 
was led to entertain more than doubts as to the 
general applicability of Darwin’s theory. He 
ultimately came to the conclusion that the exten- 
sive oceanic submergence which the great 
naturalist’s explanation demanded could not be 
proved from coral reefs. He propounded another 
view in which he was supported by the late 
Alexander Agassiz, who undertook many cruises 
over different oceans, visiting most of the coral 
regions and obtaining an unrivalled acquaintance 
with their various features. According to this 
view, coral reefs have grown up on submarine 
voleanic peaks, which in many cases have been 
covered with thick accumulations of calcareous 
organisms, so as to be brought up within the 
limits of the growth of reef-building corals. The 
problem probably cannot be solved by any one 
universally applicable hypothesis. Whether or 
not subsidence has played a part in the forma- 
tion of coral islands there can be no doubt, from 
the full narratives of Agassiz, that proofs of 
elevation are conspicuously obvious in many of 
the groups of these islands. 
Sir John Murray’s latest expedition took place 
only four years ago, when at his request the Nor- 
wegian Government lent him a surveying vessel, 
the Michael Sars, together with its scientific staff, 
for a summer cruise of four months in the North 
Atlantic Ocean, while he himself undertook to 
defray all the other expenses. The cruise proved 
highly successful, but perhaps its most important 
result has been the preparation and’ publication 
of a work on the “ Depths of the Ocean,” the joint 
production of Sir John himself and Dr. Johan 
Hjort. This handsome volume is undoubtedly the 
best and most authoritative treatise on the subject 
to which it is devoted. It places clearly before 
the reader the main incidents in the history of the 
investigation of the deep sea, and it describes the 
methods of research and the general scientific 
results obtained, with fresh illustrations from the 
experience gained in the cruise of the Michael 
Sars. Sir John had already been recognised as one 
of the chief founders of the modern science of 
Oceanography, and in this admirable volume he 
has left what will long be the leading manual on 
the subject. 
It was at his instance that upwards of five-and- 
twenty years ago the British Government was led 
to annex Christmas Island, a lonely volcanic peak 
in the Indian Ocean, which seemed never to have 
been disturbed by man. He sent out some com- 
petent observers to study its geology and natural 
history, and these visitors found it to be rich in 
phosphatic deposits. He thereupon formed a com- 
pany, which obtained a concession to work these 
accumulations. With the wealth that accrued to 
him from this source, he has been a generous sup- 
porter of scientific investigation in many directions. 
One of the undertakings which he set on foot and 
financed was a thorough bathymetrical survey of 
the freshwater lochs of Scotland by practised 
NO! 2417, VOL. 93 | 
observers. The results of this investigation have 
been published in a series of six volumes. There 
is probably no other country of which the depths 
and other features of its lakes have been so tully 
made known. 
Sir John Murray’s devotion to science and his 
sagacity in following out the branches of inquiry 
which he resolved to pursue were not more con- 
spicuous than his warm sympathy with every line 
of investigation that seemed to promise further 
discoveries. He was an eminently broad-minded 
naturalist to whom the whole wide domain of 
Nature was of interest. Full of originality and 
| suggestiveness, he not only struck out into new 
paths for himself, but pointed them out to others, 
especially to younger men, whom he encouraged 
and assisted. His genial nature, his sense of 
humour, his generous helpfulness, and a certain 
delightful boyishness which he retained to the last 
endeared him to a wide circle of friends who will 
long miss his kindly and cheery presence. 
ARCH. GEIKIE. 
PROEK, E..S. HOLDEN. 
ROF. HOLDEN, whose death was anuounced 
with regret in our last issue, was_ better 
known to the astronomers of the last generation 
than the present. He will be remembered as one 
who, by his energy and position, encouraged the 
enterprise and activity that have characterised the 
development of astronomical research in the 
United States. It was his fortune, thirty years 
ago, to be placed at the head of the Lick Observa- 
tory, the optical equipment of which was then 
superior to any that existed. Also the position 
of the observatory had been selected with care 
and at considerable expense. He had to construct 
a programme and to pursue it with such ardour 
and success that the results should justify the 
costly erection of the gigantic refractor in a spot 
remote and difficult of access. In his work as a 
pioneer he had little to guide him, for though tele- 
scopes had gradually increased in power, they 
had been employed mainly in doing more per- 
fectly what small telescopes had attempted. We 
may claim that the Lick telescope in his hands was 
a success. It is, of course, difficult to separate 
the work of a director from that of the sub- 
ordinates selected to carry it into effect. The one 
provides a programme, but the performance must 
be largely in the hands of the lieutenants. 
Prof. Holden was fortunate in the choice of his 
assistants and in the apportionment of their work. 
His assistants all increased their reputation under 
his direction, and demonstrated the capacity of 
the instrument entrusted to their charge. Barnard 
added an inner satellite to the Jovian system; 
Burnham’s double-star work remains unsurpassed ; 
Keeler’s successful demonstration of the meteoritic 
constitution of Saturn’s rings and his determina- 
tion of the motion in the line of sight of the 
planetary nebulz would have made the reputation 
of any observatory. Naturally some credit for 
these successes attaches to Prof. Holden. But his 
