MURRAY: ALEXANDER AGASSIZ. 151 



the ocean without calling in the extensive subsidences demanded by 

 the theories of Darwin and Dana. 



Agassiz almost at once adopted these views, saying, " I never really 

 accepted the theories of Darwin and Dana; it was all too mighty 

 simple. Besides," he added, "this new view is founded on observa- 

 tion and can be verified, and I'll attempt to do it, and will visit coral- 

 reef regions for the purpose." 



Darwin, it will be remembered, stated that his whole theory was 

 thought out on the west coast of South America before he had seen 

 a true coral reef. 1 The method of Agassiz was to see every true coral- 

 reef region of the world before he formed any theory. 



Darwin's theory of coral reefs may be briefly stated as follows: — 

 The corals commence by forming fringing reefs along a shore. The 

 shore commences to subside, but the corals grow directly upwards. 

 In course of time a lagoon-channel is formed between the growing 

 reef and the subsiding shore-line. When this process continues for a 

 sufficient length of time the central island completely disappears 

 beneath the waves, and the lagoon of an atoll occupies ultimately 

 the place of the island. The fringing reef thus develops into the bar- 

 rier reef, and the barrier reef develops into the atoll. 



Agassiz writes in 1909 that the result of his studies on coral reefs 

 has been "to dissent in toto from the views of Dana and Darwin 

 regarding the mode of formation of barrier reefs and atolls." 



In 1902, after his visit to the Maldives, he wrote to me as follows: — 

 "This will be the end of a most successful expedition, perhaps to me 

 the most interesting visit to a coral-reef group I have made. For 

 certainly I have learned more at the Maldives about atolls than in 

 all my past experience in the Pacific and elsewhere. I should never 

 have forgiven myself had I not seen the Maldives with my own eyes 

 and formed my own opinion of what they mean. — Such a lot of 

 twaddle — it's all wrong what Darwin has said, and the charts ought 

 to have shown him that he was talking nonsense ... .At any rate I 

 am glad that I always stuck to writing what I saw in each group and 

 explained what I saw as best I could, without trying all the time to 

 have an all-embracing theory. Now, however, I am ready to have 

 my say on coral reefs and to write a connected account of coral reefs 

 based upon what I have seen. It will be a pleasure to me to write such 

 a book and illustrate it properly by charts and photographs. But 

 it will be quite a job with my other work on hand. I hope to live to 

 100! or rather I don't hope, but ought to! to finish all." 



1 See "Life and Letters of Charles Darwin," vol. 1, p. 70. London, 1887. 



