﻿80 
  Scientific 
  Intelligence. 
  

  

  5. 
  The 
  Islands 
  and 
  Coral 
  Reefs 
  of 
  Fiji 
  ; 
  by 
  Alexander 
  

   Agassiz. 
  — 
  Volume 
  XXXIII 
  of 
  the 
  Bulletin 
  of 
  the 
  Museum 
  of 
  

   Comparative 
  Zoology 
  at 
  Harvard 
  College 
  has 
  recently 
  been 
  issued, 
  

   containing 
  a 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  coral 
  reefs 
  of 
  the 
  Fiji 
  Islands 
  by 
  

   Professor 
  Agassiz, 
  as 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  the 
  investigations 
  begun 
  by 
  

   him 
  in 
  November, 
  1897. 
  A 
  paper 
  by 
  the 
  author 
  published 
  in 
  

   this 
  Journal 
  for 
  Februarj-, 
  1898, 
  gave 
  a 
  summary 
  of 
  his 
  observa- 
  

   tions, 
  and 
  states 
  clearly 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  point 
  arrived 
  at, 
  

   namely, 
  his 
  conclusion 
  that 
  the 
  theory 
  of 
  Darwin 
  is 
  inapplicable 
  

   to 
  these 
  islands. 
  All 
  interested 
  in 
  this 
  fundamental 
  problem 
  will 
  

   turn 
  with 
  pleasure 
  to 
  this 
  exhaustive 
  monograph, 
  with 
  its 
  beauti- 
  

   ful 
  series 
  of 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  twenty 
  plates. 
  The 
  earlier 
  of 
  these 
  

   represent 
  the 
  forms 
  of 
  the 
  islands 
  with 
  their 
  outlying 
  reefs, 
  while 
  

   nearly 
  one 
  hundred 
  are 
  artotype 
  reproductions 
  of 
  photographs, 
  

   giving 
  a 
  charming 
  impression 
  of 
  the 
  peculiar 
  features 
  of 
  the 
  

   beautiful 
  scenery. 
  While 
  this 
  notice 
  can 
  serve 
  only 
  to 
  call 
  atten- 
  

   tion 
  to 
  the 
  publication 
  of 
  this 
  paper, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  worth 
  while 
  to 
  

   quote 
  the 
  concluding 
  paragraph 
  by 
  the 
  author, 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  sum- 
  

   marizes 
  the 
  conclusions 
  he 
  has 
  reached 
  : 
  

  

  "My 
  observations 
  in 
  Fiji 
  only 
  emphasize 
  what 
  has 
  been 
  said 
  

   so 
  often, 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  general 
  theory 
  of 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  coral 
  

   reefs, 
  either 
  of 
  barrier 
  reefs 
  or 
  atolls, 
  applicable 
  to 
  all 
  districts, 
  

   and 
  that 
  each 
  district 
  must 
  be 
  examined 
  by 
  itself. 
  At 
  least 
  such 
  

   has 
  been 
  my 
  experience 
  in 
  the 
  Bermudas, 
  the 
  Bahamas, 
  Cuba, 
  

   Florida, 
  the 
  West 
  Indies, 
  the 
  Sandwich 
  Islands, 
  and 
  Australia. 
  

   The 
  results 
  of 
  this 
  trip 
  show 
  plainly 
  that 
  Darwin's 
  theory 
  is 
  not 
  

   applicable 
  to 
  the 
  Fiji 
  Islands, 
  notwithstanding 
  the 
  borings 
  at 
  

   Funafuti, 
  and 
  that, 
  in 
  all 
  cases 
  I 
  have 
  examined, 
  the 
  reefs 
  form 
  

   but 
  a 
  thin 
  crust 
  upon 
  the 
  underlying 
  base, 
  the 
  shape 
  and 
  composi- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  which 
  is 
  not 
  in 
  any 
  way 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  corals 
  of 
  

   the 
  existing 
  period." 
  

  

  6. 
  Eocperimentale 
  Untersuchimgen 
  tieher 
  die 
  Bildung 
  der 
  

   Minerale 
  im 
  Magma 
  von 
  J. 
  Morozewicz. 
  Tsch. 
  Min. 
  Petr. 
  

   Mitth., 
  xviii, 
  Nos. 
  1, 
  2, 
  3, 
  1898. 
  — 
  By 
  their 
  publication 
  in 
  German 
  

   the 
  important 
  investigations 
  which 
  Morozewicz 
  has 
  been 
  conduct- 
  

   ing 
  for 
  five 
  years 
  or 
  more 
  and 
  which, 
  as 
  heretofore 
  published 
  in 
  

   Russian, 
  have 
  been 
  inaccessible 
  to 
  mostpetrographers 
  and 
  chemists, 
  

   are 
  now 
  available 
  for 
  use 
  and 
  study. 
  

  

  Not 
  since 
  the 
  now 
  classic 
  studies 
  of 
  Fouque 
  and 
  Michel-Levy 
  

   lias 
  so 
  important 
  a 
  work 
  appeared 
  on 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  minerals 
  

   in 
  molten 
  magmas. 
  The 
  author 
  obtained 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  a 
  portion 
  of 
  

   one 
  of 
  the 
  furnaces 
  in 
  a 
  glass 
  factory 
  and 
  was 
  enabled 
  to 
  conduct 
  

   liis 
  experiments 
  under 
  conditions 
  and 
  on 
  a 
  scale 
  which 
  no 
  previous 
  

   experimenter 
  had 
  been 
  enabled 
  to 
  command. 
  For 
  the 
  actual 
  

   results 
  themselves 
  the 
  original 
  work 
  must 
  be 
  consulted, 
  they 
  are 
  

   too 
  numerous 
  and 
  important 
  to 
  admit 
  of 
  mention 
  in 
  a 
  brief 
  notice. 
  

   Among 
  others, 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  natural 
  lavas, 
  including 
  rhyolite, 
  as 
  

   well 
  as 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  minerals, 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  supposedly 
  

   foreign 
  to 
  igneous 
  magmas, 
  were 
  produced. 
  The 
  minerals 
  of 
  

   granite 
  rocks, 
  quartz, 
  feldspar 
  and 
  mica, 
  were 
  formed 
  in 
  dry 
  

  

  