From T. M. Reade   21 September 1880

My dear Sir—

I send you a short paper on “Oceans & Continents” which may interest you as bearing upon some of the problems dealt with in your researches on Coral Atolls &c—¹

When in Edinburgh last Autumn I had a conversation with Mr Murray who explained to me his theories of the formation of coral reefs &c as since set forth in this paper republished in Nature but read before the Royal Soc of Edin—² It appears to me that he goes out of his way very much to account for everything relating to coral reef growth without subsidence & elevation— It all arises from a fixed belief in the permanence of oceans & continents & a consequent desire to limit such movements as much as possible— I think the theory he sets forth that the cones or peaks on which he considers atolls have been formed have been levelled up by pelagic deposits & thus brought within the limits of reef building coral growth, a very far fetched idea—

I remain Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | T. Mellard Reade

D^r. Chas. Darwin—