TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION D. 719 



Dr. Stdnet J. HiCKSOK, wlio was tlien called upon to read his paper on 

 * Theories of Coral Reefs and Atolls,' said before commencing his paper that he 

 held it to be the duty of the opener of a discussion such as this first of all to 

 explain the phenomena about which discussion was to take place and then state 

 as impartially as possible the different views held to explain the phenomena. The 

 object of the discussion was, if possible, to arrive at the truth, and not to run any 

 particular theory. Thus he would endeavour to state as impartially as possible 

 the different views which had been put forward to explain the presence of atolls 

 and barrier reefs, and, although he could not help indicating in his opening remarks 

 the view which he was inclined to hold himself, he would endeavour to postpone 

 the reasons for his prejudice in favour of that view to a subsequent part of the 

 discussion. He hoped none of the gentlemen who followed him would consider 

 that his mind was so prejudiced that they would not be able to convince him that 

 he was wrong in the view he took. Mr. Hickson then proceeded to read his 

 paper, the principal points in which were illustrated by maps and diagrams. 



At the close of Dr. Hickson's paper the Peesident said they would all agree 

 ■with him that they must tender their hearty thanks to Dr. Hickson for his very 

 admirable address. If he found any fault with it, it would be that in relation to 

 their conference it had been of a too judicial and well-balanced character, that he 

 had rather taken the sting out of anything like an animated controversy. They 

 must admire the fair way in which Dr. Hickson had brought forward the arguments 

 for and against in this controversy. It would be difficult to attack him, for he had 

 avoided controversial matter bj' presenting both sides in a very fair manner. For 

 his own part, being a botanist, and knowing very little indeed about coral islands, 

 his mind was perfectly open in the matter. If he might venture to throw out a 

 suggestion with regard to the arguments of future speakers, he might say he was 

 struck with the anxiety of those who attacked Mr. Darwin's views, whilst asserting 

 that no considerable amount of subsidence of the earth's crust had taken place, to 

 go very largely into the correlative action, as it seemed to him, of elevation. If 

 they admitted that portions of the earths crust had been elevated 500 or 600 feet, 

 it appeared to him that other portions of the earth might be correspondingly 

 depressed. The President then invited discussion. 



Professor Botd Da^wkins said he thought they were particularly fortunate that 

 morning in having that subject brought before the two Sections which were so 

 closely connected as Sections C and D, for if on the one hand Section D had to deal 

 with the history of life on the earth at the present time, Section C had to regard 

 those changes which were revealed in the history of the earth by the study of the 

 various forms which had lived. And the question of coral reefs might be said to 

 stand absolutely on the frontiers which divide the province of Section C from that 

 of Section D. He certainly felt that the Chairman had, to a very large extent, by 

 his remarks, anticipated one of those points which certainly had, to his mind, very 

 great force in this matter. It certainly seemed to him, as a student of the history 

 of the earth, that it was wholly impossible for them to allow that any great move- 

 ments of elevation could have taken place in a given area without acknowledging 

 the correlative movements of depression ; and when they knew that there were large 

 portions of the Pacific and some other oceans which undoubtedly bore evidences 

 of elevation, it seemed, in the very nature of things, that there must be some traces 

 of subsidence. It was quite impossible for him to imagine that the one operation 

 should go on without the other, and as a matter of fact from their geological 

 record they must look upon the surface of the earth as being in a continual 

 state of movement up and down, and the state of the ocean as a stable, even, 

 and regular level. He thought the discussion would direct their attention to 

 the rival merits of the two theories — that which was started by Mv. Darwin 

 more than fifty years ago, and which was known as the subsidence theory ; and 

 the other theory which had been placed before them, which he might term the 

 minus-subsidence theory. It seemed to him that the latter was not capable of 

 being entirely ignored. As he took it, corals would live on whatever they could 

 find to perch themselves upon and develop coral reefs within the limits of coral 

 growth, and if the centre of the land is depressed, in the nature of things, corals 



