MORE WANDERINGS AND WORK 227 



for, apart from his interest in the development of a great 

 industry and the welfare of its employees, he always 

 regarded Calumet as the means that enabled him to 

 accomplish his scientific work. In the fall of 1887 he 

 characteristically writes Murray : " I am getting on well 



with my Blake Report and hope to have the d thing 



out soon. I 've done nothing this summer but correct 

 proof and am almost dead." That winter he found time 

 to visit his confreres in Germany, Paris, and London, 

 going down to Cambridge before returning to its name- 

 sake in the New World, to receive an honorary degree. 

 Marks of recognition of his thalassographic researches 

 were now fast accumulating from all parts of Europe ; 

 in the summer he was elected a Corresponding Member 

 of the French Academy of Science. 



The first few lines of the next letter refer to the so- 

 called " Conspiracy of Silence." On the return of the 

 Challenger, Murray had been advised not to publish 

 hastily his theory of coral reefs. This had delayed its 

 appearance for a couple of years. The Duke of Argyll, 

 stumbling across the fact, had construed it into a delib- 

 erate attempt on the part of the English scientific world 

 to suppress the truth, for fear of injuring the prestige 

 of Darwin, who held different views in the matter. This 

 called forth an indignant protest from Huxley : he after- 

 ward, however, wrote Agassiz: "I beg you to believe 

 that I had not the slightest intention of posing as a de- 

 fender of Darwin's views [on coral reefs]. My purpose 

 was to deal with the Duke's charges against the honor 

 of scientific men, and I did not want to diminish the 

 force of my blows by raising any side issues." 



