14 THE LAST CRUISE OF THE CARNEGIE 



Oceanography as we have described it is not an ancient study. 

 Its development has depended on the invention of methods in the 

 other sciences. For instance, in recent years the perfection of 

 echo-sounding has given to physical geography a magnificent 

 tool for charting the oceanic floor. With this method one could 

 easily make as many soundings in a year as had been made in 

 all previous centuries. 



The first true oceanographic expedition set out from England 

 under James Cook in 1768 in the Endeavour. His primary pur- 

 pose was to make astronomical and geographical investigations. 

 However, a noted biologist was a member of the party, and deep- 

 sea soundings and temperatures were recorded. In his day no 

 one dreamed that life could exist under the great pressures exist- 

 ing in the depths of the ocean. 



During the following hundred years, a multitude of new instru- 

 ments was devised by men of all nationalities, and an increasing 

 interest in the ocean was shown by great scientists. Charles 

 Darwin and Thomas Huxley were two of this company. And the 

 interest in marine biology was intensified when the telegraph 

 companies began to report broken cables showing clear evidence 

 of marine life even in the greatest depths. By this time Sir 

 John Ross had invented a bottom-sampler which he called a 

 "deep-sea clamm." With this he brought up some starfish and 

 marine worms from two thousand meters. 



This was the first direct evidence that life could exist under 

 enormous pressures. iVn equally important contribution to the 

 science was the invention of the deep-sea reversing thermometer 

 protected against pressure. With these thermometers it could 

 be shown that as we go deeper in the sea the temperature di- 

 minishes, and that on the bottom the water is not far from the 

 freezing point — the reverse of conditions in a mine-shaft on land. 



It was apparent from these advances that the time had come 

 for a world-wide survey of the ocean and its floor. Until then 

 research had been limited to areas near the coasts. Accordingly, 

 the H.M.S. Challenger set out in IST'-Z on a great exploring expe- 

 dition under the noted Sir Wyville-Thompson. This ship cov- 

 ered sixty -nine thousand miles in all oceans, making soundings, 



