1903.] 071 Some Problems and Methods of Oceanic Besearch. 359 



before us in this place the marvellous results of his unceasing activity 

 in this field of research. Meantime in endeavouring to fill the vacant 

 place I will ask you to let me take you back a matter of 30 years, 

 when the Challenger expedition was about to start from this country. 



The Challenger sailed from Portsmouth on December 21, 1872, and 

 this may not unfairly be taken as the date of the birth of the science 

 of oceanography. Since this date a new generation has sprung up, 

 and it may be interesting to recall some of the circumstances under 

 which the expedition came into being. 



I pass over the early work done by different nations (most of it 

 suggested by the obvious importance of bridging the ocean with 

 telegraphic cables) because it would take too much time to do it 

 justice. The real movement for the development of deep-sea research 

 began with the cruise of the Lightning in 1868, followed by those 

 of the Porcupine in 1869 and 1870. The scientific work of these 

 expeditions was directed by one or other of three men, Dr. Carpenter, 

 Mr. Gwynn Jeffreys and Professor Wyville Thomson. The work 

 done in these expeditions is brought together in ' The Depths of the 

 Sea,' by Professor Wyville Thomson, published on the eve of the 

 sailing of the Challenger. The Porcupine established a record for 

 the time by dredging in the Bay of Biscay in a depth of 2345 

 fathoms, where abundance of life was found. The results of these 

 two expeditions aroused public interest in deep-sea research, and it 

 was powerfully supported by the increasing importance of submarine 

 telegraphy. It was in these favouring circumstances that Dr. Car- 

 penter threw himself with heart and soul into the work of promoting 

 an expedition on a great scale, for the exploration on broad lines 

 of the whole of the ocean-covered surface of the globe. It was 

 to his well-directed importunity that the government of the day 

 yielded, and that the pioneer scientific exploration of the ocean fell 

 to the lot of Great Britain. It was probably not unfortunate that 

 the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the day was Robert Low, whose 

 long colonial experience gave him a greater breadth of view than 

 is commonly found at home. In his first letter to Professor Stokes, 

 then Secretary of the Royal Society, Dr. Carpenter puts forward the 

 organisation of an expedition on a large scale as a national duty. 

 The first sentence of his letter of June 15, 1871, runs : — " The in- 

 formation we have lately received as to the activity with which other 

 nations are now entering upon the physical and biological exploration 

 of the deep sea, makes it appear to my colleagues and myself that 

 the time is now come for bringing before our own Government the 

 importance of initiating a more complete and sytematic course of 

 research than we have yet had the means of prosecuting." 



The result of Dr. Carpenter's labours was that the expedition 

 was resolved on before the end of 1871, and preparations for its 

 equipment could be commenced at once. Although the formal ap- 

 pointments were not made till much later, most of the members of the 

 scientific staff had been selected and had begun their preparatory 

 Vol. XYII. (No. 97.) 2 b 



