214 Mr Gardiner, On the Rate of Growth 



On the Rate of Growth of some Corals from Fiji. By J. Stanley 

 Gardiner, M.A., Balfour Student, and Fellow of Gonville and 

 Caius College. 



[Bead 20 May 1901.] 



About three years ago I received from Capt. W. W. Wilson, 

 Harbour-master of Levuka, Fiji, five corals, which he had ob- 

 tained off the chain of an anchorage buoy in Levuka harbour. 

 I did not comment on these at the time owing to lack of some 

 necessary information. I do so now in the hope that I may 

 induce naturalists, who are studying this and kindred subjects, to 

 carry out their work on a more precise and scientific basis. 

 Capt. Wilson is accustomed to lift these buoys periodically, so 

 as to remove weed, etc. and to repaint. He kindly carried out 

 this operation with some during my visit to Fiji, and I subse- 

 quently recorded the weights of the specimens of coral obtained 1 , 

 but something more than this is needed for the proper study 

 of the problem in relation to the formation of organically-built 

 reefs. 



Anyone accustomed to deal with anchorage buoys knows that 

 such movement, as normally occurs owing to the tides, or due to 

 a ship picking up its buoy, is not of a violent nature, nor likely 

 to be seriously detrimental to coral, or other organic growths, as 

 compared with surrounding areas. Such is especially the case 

 in Levuka harbour ; the anchors and chains are heavy enough for 

 vessels of large tonnage, while ships of more than 300 tons only 

 occasionally tie up to them. The fact that the chain from this 

 cause varies little from the vertical is of importance, as the friction 

 of the links on one another, owing to violent, horizontal movements, 

 would naturally seriously impede the growth of the corals, or 

 even destroy the colonies. The specimens, here especially under 

 consideration, were all from a part of the chain between 1^ and 

 4 fathoms in depth, as indeed were those, which I previously 

 recorded. There is never any coral growth on the buoys, 

 nor on the chains immediately below them. They are indeed 



1 " The Coral Reefs of Funafuti, Rotuma and Fiji, etc." Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 

 Vol. ix. Pt vin. p. 487, 1898. 



