DARWIN MEMORIAL CELEBRATION 
27 
of Great Britain had not learned to distinguish between faith and pre¬ 
judice. 
This effort to explain the origin of coral reefs has been regarded, justly, 
as Darwin’s especial contribution to geology. It has been opposed strenu¬ 
ously by careful students during the last twenty years and even now it is a 
bone of contention; but the most strenuous opponent concedes that it is 
logical and a fair induction from the facts as then known. Be it true or not, 
be it a competent explanation or not, no matter. In influence on geology 
it has been as far-reaching as the doctrine of natural selection has been on 
biology. It involves every important problem in dynamics of the earth’s 
crust; in testing it, men have been led into paths of investigation, which, 
but for Darwin, might still be untrodden. The influence went farther. 
The hypothesis was presented at a time when men’s minds were warped by 
prejudice, when men were extremists, when too many were defenders of 
dogmas in science and too few were searchers after truth. Darwin’s dis¬ 
cussion was a model of frankness; suggestions offered by his predecessors 
were dealt with courteously; he searched far and wide for objections to his 
own suggestions, and when objections were found, he stated them in detail, 
concealing nothing and urging further investigation. His conclusions 
were, for him, merely tabulations of observed facts. One can not over¬ 
estimate the importance of this method; it was a chief factor in changing 
the tone of scientific literature, in leading to replacement of subjective by 
objective modes of investigation. 
Darwin’s work as geologist practically ended with these publications 
of the Beagle results. It is true that in later years he made some contribu¬ 
tions possessing much interest, but they were merely incidental to studies 
in other directions; the greater part of his long life was devoted to biological 
problems. At the same time, his whole mode of thinking and of observing 
was that of the geologist, so that if one were treating of his later years the 
topic might well be the influence of geology upon Darwin. In his later 
works, one finds constantly recurring consideration of geological conditions 
as potent factors in biological change, while on the other hand he emphasized 
the influence of life as a factor in bringing about geological changes. To 
him nature was always one; and he, in great measure, was responsible for 
the broadness of view characterizing the geologists who were his contem¬ 
poraries as well as for the remarkable change in attitude of the community 
toward scientific discussion. Nowadays, when workers are so many and 
knowledge is so increased, men have been forced into narrow lanes of in¬ 
vestigation; students, perplexed by phenomena within their limited vision, 
too often think little and know less of what neighbors are doing. And this 
must continue until some important problems have been solved, at least in 
part, and some positive results have been obtained in many directions. 
