Mr. Murray's views, published in 1880, are said to have met with "slow
and sulky acquiescence" (p. 305). I have proved that they cannot be
said to have met with general acquiescence of any sort, whether quick
and cheerful, or slow and sulky; and if this assertion is meant to
convey the impression that Mr. Murray's views have been ignored, that
there has been a conspiracy of silence against them, it is utterly
contrary to notorious fact.
Professor Geikie's well-known "Textbook of Geology" was published in
1882, and at pages 457-459 of that work there is a careful exposition
of Mr. Murray's views. Moreover Professor Geikie has specially
advocated them on other occasions,[31] notably in a long article on
"The Origin of Coral-Reefs," published in two numbers of "Nature" for
1883, and in a Presidential Address delivered in the same year. If, in
so short a time after the publication of his views, Mr. Murray could
boast of a convert, so distinguished and influential as the Director
of the Geological Survey, it seems to me that this wonderful
_conspiration de silence_ (which has about as much real existence as
the Duke of Argyll's other bogie, "The Reign of Terror ") must have
_ipso facto_ collapsed. I wish that, when I was a young man, my
endeavours to upset some prevalent errors had met with as speedy and
effectual backing.