The sun., 1896-10-11
BORING THROUGH CORAL.
THE ATTEMPT 10 PROBE THE sE-
CRETy OF CORAL REEFS

,l rom the Bri Iish gunbont Penguin IN the lit
al, I-innd Of Funaluti. IN the Euice group,
,orth lf FIJI. and have begun boring through
IN, coral rock They have been instructed
t' bnrr to a depth OF al least duO teet' but IL
tb, conditions are tavorabls they inland TO 90
down I, 900 feet. Darwins wish is coming
,-,,. ,.I,.t ..f wish he wrOts IN 1881, that
,ome dnubly righ millionaire would TAX" 10
into his head 10 have b0rtngs made In some
gf the Pacific and Indian atolls. and bring
home cores Tor si.cuE from depth of 500 or
400 feet" The ate Prot Dana also wrote, in
$50, tI.at "bur.n.s In coral islands ara the
.r,.e means o" inv"stigation.'
=, these men ara guuk to try TO solve
10 I'm On which investigators have not been
,air -o agree. They exUGt to prove how coral
islnnIs arc formed, and they ara boring
.h-np.a one of them to dad what it rests on.
Til, rslder 1f tho party is Mr. W. ]. sollas.
prorcssor OF geology in the University Of Dub
I'm. md a man who combines the scientific
tnow edge md mechanical skill required In
tn,s undertaking. Mr. Hedley Of the Aus
tr,Uan VI lsrum IS his first assistant, and the
-r5rr-entatjve Of the Government of New
smith Wlr-. which is supplying q part Of the
frnds eeted. The third member of the ex-
pslltion $ - Mr.. Stanley Gardner, a biolo-
r'sr ~ ramnridgr University. New South
Wales supplied the boring plant. The Brit
ish government placed the GuNboat Penguin at
th, G!spo-n " the expeation. and the whole
ENTERPRISE vas planned by commitrees Of the
Rrirish Association and the Royal Society as
sisted vs. Australian geologists.
Tlnntrtt vas selected because It was n typi-
c.l ltoI. II IS one Of the beauty spots OK tho
Petite Tho island where the boring "a in
ornr-ess herrs the same mama and Is the larry
est IN ma 'llin NJ thirty-tve Islands forming
The atul!. The 'aGoon which these Islands en-
close is about ten miles long and hulr a. wide
Only lfav score natives live On the little ISL
and which is covered with cncoanur groves,
ini = rowherc N re than nine feet above
me surface Jt the sea. The ,party are doubt
less working there under comfortable condi-
t.oEs. for u white trader has his home there,
ami he natives are friendly and nominally
Christians.
II Il had not been for the Government of
New South Wales. tits doubtful II the re-
CURED rrnds wnuld have been raised. II is
not such difficult task 20 bore through the
coral to tha strata below, but engines and bor-
ing machinery are supposed TO reQuirs plenty
Ot fresh water. and there is no such COM
modify On the slandS except what is stored
from The rainfall. Here New South Wales
stepped IN with an offer to supply boilers In
which salt water might De used. The water.
{" chemically treste,t, both for use IN the
boilers and on the drill and for wash ing out
the bore. bur at the same time the utmost cau-
tinn mas tu he taken 20 prevent injury 70 the
machinery and the boilers from the salt
For years a SHARP controversy has been wag-
Ing among scientific men over the {, rmafiOn
of coral Stands and reefs ard all because they
cannot study suhterrnnean formations AZ a
Csolo0!st does a mountain. wandering over It
hammer In hand; and the more thai has been
learned of the regions of coral growth the
Dana enumerated 900 coral islands or consid-
emile size. tn sav-nothinU Of the almost ,nnu-
face IN the Pacific and the fudian oceans inst
large .nnugh for vtllage or a clump OF cocoa
When tho world first became interesred in
these wonderful islands aud reefs II was M
agtned that the little coral pciyps began their
w"rS right down at the bottom of the sea
floor. It was found that they Live lika bees In
great communities. and thar rhey secrete
caroonate Of LIN lime he, held IN solution by the sea
grows 20 a large mas: and &c was ruppOsed
that the mysterious little animals h.gnn their
ture sometimes thousands OF feet to the sur
;aoa Of the ocean.
This was a most erroneous idea. Thers arc
deep ssa cnrnls. hut they are nor the sort that
build coral islands and reefs. To was discov-
cred that he reef coral. as rule. does not
i've az greater dapth than Is0 feet thouch
Mr.. Guppv. who studied the reefs or the Solo
mon Islands. SAYS that under f.vorable condl-
Gr7-. esf ccrais occasionally thrive In denrhs
discovery gave the rh"nrv of the uphrildinq of
coral reefs ana islands from the door OF the
deep sea t. nnal Guietus.
On what toundarinu then could the great
grouus of ;rnntr islands and atoIls rrst2 1hev
ar" many hurdr~'iF VI miles from the rnnti-
nents and tire sea sinks tn almost aby small
deurhs around them. IT. was Darwin who
studded this ,1ter~sfing question m hia famous
vnvag" IN the RaHgIe half century aro and
the heau'tfu! rhenrv OF rnraI reefs that he
evolved from his observatfons was reuerslly
a'renteH until twputy n thirry years ago. The
controversy among scientific men has Eean
tireiT -v"r Sinre. and rhe more we have learned
abnut th" great oceans the mora srnutlv has
DaFw'n,T theory heen contested by some lead
ing authorities
Darwtrs opponents ssv that his explanation
OF n" 3eennnena Of cor reefs was pPrfrctly
justified \ the state % knowta.'re at the time:
hut that since he vr0te his work there has been
great increase in our know w1.dg ge ot coral
reefs and ~ 'he ocean depths. and 50 hs ear
ana nrtrn erroneous. In fact. large 1art Nt
the evidence aGniast his theory has come from
.hrss 3rnas ~ the oceans which Darwin did
Darwt1 -~ached his theory hv examining all
the onssthe eEplanati0us NJ the fnr-r alton Of
cora reefs. Tho evpianation shat the REFS
h1d Stands grow from the BOTTOM of tFe deep
S"a had alraHdy been 0verthruwn brcause the
cora nolrDs. it was disco gere4 do not 1.-Two
tAeT n"gnn "a nui!d frnm lie tnp or rear tne
tnn ~ Submerged volcanoes reaching M 70 the
answered. no. Here we're vast arens OF the
oL Lsta Nt're m mountains ltfted their tops
''.'' s'4' f11 VI rock c~rid bS found aL-
cHpt era. Darwin could nor cnnrpive that
nFTaHs NJ nuuntalns COuld ha oispd from
I''t 'ra ,onr, their rOps |tOpping at an even
Nr!sht NJ 100 - zoo feet below the urHaca.
h'l ore M hem coming into view above IL. He
Frr'Ian ms RFTufh he~ls. and here his opp0-
Ar"'s !FNt axe 's-Ue with him on purely then
ErtrA Er7H1ta They +ny The reef NAV have
alh' r." m %" ridaS NJ volcano whose tOp part
Ahr '""h "asi'"i away hy winds and waves.
l4"h eT" vas The theory that coral reefs
HsFr nhFrh lnon Ireat banks n sediment whirh
80 S''.t7 ui .Ift~d The 81 hoor almost IN he
surface NJ THO ocean. Mr.. Darwin ar ono Q ds-
aLss"I MS * T"laEatiOn. He sad tina: the
r . .'-uh. without any proof. that y number
~ Hh'h"n"" Sl.r7 NJ Setmer have hpen heaDed
On tAe door ~ The great Pnrifir and Indian
Ittn''' p th"'r aentrnl parts. far remote from
tii', hNh ThHT" The lark blue color nj the linn
~. r'. Nt|er hrslrnHs u purity, cannot for mo-
".'s' 4Fh IA re Is violent parting Of the
W ~ .a' .untrnyersv. Murray. GuDpy. A.
t1atS'1' f"d .tArss maintain that he facts
aopuI H"hI'" !re and deep -ea deposits which
Nsr7 FrV'n"d By THE Challengrr exprditinn
p,I,.e ne 'nrr""'Dess pf The assumpti0n which
DarV'h ~ r'f-i FOR want or evidenc,. DR..
:LATrnF '''..nhtrs that The organisms that ac-
@ @.a"llY HA'St 70 'verH square mile uf the rropit
81 81 t'"h ~ ~1ohs ~ "arnonate OF lime. The my
r.At r"fma or SEA lie make calcareous de-
p"aNa IN j" 'aa..nwer depths, on
@ @ratu suthhlls 0T submarine elevations.
NG4fi'h raise IN" bank to tho Level suit