CONTENTS. 
XV 
ledges and walls round the shores of some lagoons — The ring- 
formed reefs of the Maldiva atolls — The submerged condition of 
parts or of the whole of some annular reefs — The disseverment 
of large atolls — The union of atolls by linear reefs — The Great 
Chagos Bank — Objections, from the area and amount of subsi- 
dence required by the theory, considered — The probable composi- 
tion of the lower parts of atolls . . . page 119 to 157 
CHAPTER VI. 
ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF CORAL-REEFS WITH REFERENCE 
TO THE THEORY OF THEIR FORMATION. 
Description of the coloured map —Proximity of atolls and barrier- 
reefs — Relation in form and position of atolls with ordinary 
islands — Direct evidence of subsidence difficult to be detected— 
Proofs of recent elevation where fringing-reefs occur — Oscilla- 
tions of level — Absence of active volcanos in the areas of subsi- 
dence — Immensity of the areas which have been elevated and 
have subsided — Their relation to the present distribution of the 
land — Areas of subsidence elongated, their intersection and alter- 
nation with those of elevation — Amount, and slow rate of sub- 
sidence — Recapitulation 158 to 196 
APPENDIX [I.] 
Containing a detailed description of the Reefs and Islands in the 
coloured Map, Plate III 199 to 280 
[APPENDIX II.] 
[Summary of the principal contributions to the History of Coral- 
Reefs since the year 1874] 281 to 352 
General Index 
333 
