, and the Admiralty, has led to the most definite and
conclusive results.

The Committee appointed by the Royal Society to carry out the
undertaking included representatives of all the views that had been
put forward on the subject. The place for the experiment was, with the
consent of every member of the Committee, selected by the late Admiral
Sir W.J. Wharton--who was not himself an adherent of Darwin's views--and
no one has ventured to suggest that his selection, the splendid atoll of
Funafuti, was not a most judicious one.

By the pluck and perseverance of Professor Sollas in the preliminary
expedition, and of Professor T. Edgeworth David and his pupils, in
subsequent investigations of the island, the rather difficult piece
of work was brought to a highly satisfactory conclusion. The New South
Wales Government lent boring apparatus and workmen, and the Admiralty
carried the expedition to its destination in a surveying ship which,
under Captain (now Admiral) A. Mostyn Field, made the most complete
survey of the atoll and its surrounding seas that has ever been
undertaken in the case of a coral formation.

After some failures and many interruptions, the boring was carried to
the depth of 1114 feet, and the cores obtained were sent to England.
Here the examination of the materials was fortunately undertaken by
a zoologist of the highest repute, Dr G.J. Hinde--who has a wide
experience in the study of organisms by sections--and he was aided at
all points by specialists in the British Museum of Natural History
and by other naturalists. Nor were the chemical and other problems
neglected.

The verdict arrived at, after this most exhaustive study of a series of
cores obtained from depths twice as great as that thought necessary by
Darwin, was as follows:--"The whole of the cores are found to be built
up of those organisms which are seen forming coral-reefs near the
surface of the ocean--many of them evidently in situ; and not the
slightest indication could be detected, by chemical or microscopic
means, which suggested the proximity of non-calcareous rocks, even in
the lowest portions brought up."

But this was not all. Professor David succeeded in obtaining the aid
of a very skilful engineer from Australia, while the Admiralty allowed
Commander F.C.D. Sturdee to take a surveying ship into the lagoon
for further investigations. By very ingenious methods, and with great
perseverance, two borings were put down in the mid