﻿James 
  Dwight 
  Dana. 
  333 
  

  

  The 
  opportunities 
  of 
  this 
  long 
  journey 
  to 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  

   interesting 
  points 
  in 
  the 
  world 
  were 
  such 
  as 
  have 
  been 
  offered 
  

   to 
  few 
  young 
  men 
  of 
  his 
  years 
  and 
  could 
  never 
  come 
  again. 
  

   The 
  stimulus 
  of 
  the 
  multitude 
  of 
  new 
  facts 
  to 
  observe 
  and 
  of 
  

   new 
  forms 
  of 
  life 
  to 
  collect 
  and 
  study 
  was 
  extraordinary, 
  and 
  

   the 
  effect 
  of 
  these 
  four 
  years 
  upon 
  the 
  attainments 
  of 
  his 
  sub- 
  

   sequent 
  life 
  was 
  profound. 
  Of 
  the 
  beauties 
  of 
  the 
  life 
  in 
  the 
  

   sea 
  about 
  the 
  coral 
  islands 
  and 
  of 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  tropics 
  in 
  general 
  

   he 
  never 
  tired 
  of 
  speaking 
  ; 
  his 
  lecture 
  on 
  " 
  Coral 
  Islands 
  " 
  

   delivered 
  in 
  later 
  years 
  to 
  many 
  generations 
  of 
  college 
  students, 
  

   contained 
  a 
  vivid 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  scenes 
  he 
  enjoyed 
  so 
  much.* 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  interesting 
  to 
  note 
  here, 
  that 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  before 
  the 
  

   American 
  expedition 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  Pacific, 
  the 
  British 
  ship 
  " 
  Bea- 
  

   gle," 
  having 
  the 
  naturalist 
  Darwin 
  on 
  board, 
  had 
  sailed 
  through 
  

   much 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  region. 
  The 
  theory 
  explaining 
  the 
  formation 
  

   of 
  the 
  coral 
  atoll 
  by 
  gradual 
  subsidence, 
  first 
  advanced 
  by 
  Dar- 
  

   win 
  (1842), 
  was 
  also 
  independently 
  worked 
  out 
  to 
  a 
  large 
  extent 
  

   by 
  the 
  American 
  naturalist. 
  f 
  The 
  latter 
  showed, 
  moreover, 
  

   that 
  the 
  reef-building 
  corals 
  lived 
  only 
  in 
  water 
  of 
  at 
  least 
  68 
  

   degrees 
  Fahrenheit, 
  which 
  proved 
  that 
  the 
  distribution 
  of 
  

   corals 
  depended 
  on 
  the 
  temperature 
  of 
  the 
  water. 
  

  

  As 
  already 
  stated, 
  Mr. 
  Dana 
  was 
  first 
  appointed 
  in 
  the 
  field 
  

   of 
  Geology, 
  and 
  his 
  observations 
  and 
  deductions 
  are 
  given 
  in 
  a 
  

   large 
  quarto 
  volume 
  of 
  756 
  pages 
  with 
  a 
  folio 
  atlas 
  of 
  21 
  plates 
  

   (1849). 
  Later, 
  however, 
  in 
  part 
  because 
  of 
  the 
  return 
  of 
  one 
  

   of 
  his 
  colleagues 
  to 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  he 
  assumed 
  charge 
  also 
  

   of 
  the 
  Crustacea 
  and 
  Zoophytes. 
  These 
  combined 
  depart- 
  

   ments 
  gave 
  full 
  scope 
  to 
  his 
  zeal 
  and 
  industry. 
  The 
  results 
  

   of 
  his 
  work 
  in 
  this 
  department 
  of 
  Zoology 
  include 
  a 
  Report 
  on 
  

   Zoophytes, 
  a 
  quarto 
  volume 
  of 
  741 
  pages, 
  with 
  a 
  folio 
  atlas 
  of 
  

   61 
  plates 
  (1846) 
  ; 
  also 
  a 
  Report 
  on 
  Crustacea, 
  in 
  two 
  quarto 
  

   volumes 
  aggregating 
  1620 
  pages 
  (1853) 
  and 
  accompanied 
  by 
  a 
  

   folio 
  atlas 
  of 
  96 
  plates 
  (1854). 
  These 
  three 
  reports 
  will 
  be 
  

   more 
  particularly 
  spoken 
  of 
  later, 
  but 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  mentioned 
  here 
  

   that 
  a 
  large 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  drawings 
  of 
  the 
  plates 
  in 
  both 
  works 
  

   were 
  made 
  by 
  his 
  own 
  hand. 
  

  

  * 
  This 
  subject 
  is 
  presented 
  in 
  somewhat 
  popular 
  form 
  in 
  the 
  work 
  entitled 
  

   " 
  Corals 
  and 
  Coral 
  Islands," 
  first 
  published 
  in 
  1872. 
  

  

  f 
  A 
  brief 
  discussion 
  of 
  this 
  theory 
  is 
  given 
  on 
  a 
  later 
  page 
  of 
  this 
  number 
  

   (p. 
  42G); 
  it 
  was 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  subjects 
  on 
  which 
  he 
  wrote. 
  

  

  