PREFACE 



The present volume is the thirteenth and last of the 

 series "Scientific results of cruise VII of the Carnegie 

 during 1928-1929 under command of Captain J. P. Ault." 

 The material has been compiled into its present form by 



0. W. Torreson of the Department of Terrestrial Mag- 

 netism. The preparation of this volume, and of ten of 

 the preceding twelve, has been greatly facilitated by the 

 work of Mrs. J. W. Crow, and we take this opportimity 

 to express our appreciation. She has been responsible 

 for transcribing all copy into a form suitable for offset 

 printing, has prepared the layout of each volume, as- 

 sembled and prepared bibliographical material, and in 

 many other important ways has contributed to the com- 

 pletion of the memoirs of the Carnegie's last cruise. 



The purposes of this volume are to present, as a 

 basis for future scientific investigations done aboard 

 ship: (1) Various discussions, differing in point of view, 

 of the equipment and operating program of the Carnegie , 

 and (2) summaries of the results achieved, mentioning 

 not only successful activities, but also the many difficul- 

 ties encountered and the need for additional work. 



Of the 110,000 nautical miles planned for the seventh 

 cruise of the nonmagnetic ship Carnegie of the Carnegie 

 Institution of Washington, nearly one-half had been com- 

 pleted on her arrival at Apia, November 28, 1929. The 

 ejctensive program of observation in terrestrial magnet- 

 ism, terrestrial electricity, chemical oceanography, 

 physical oceanography, marine biology, and marine me- 

 teorology was being carried out in virtually every detail. 

 Practical techniques and instrumental appliances for 

 oceanographic work on a sailing vessel had been most 

 successfully developed by Captain J. P. Ault, master and 

 chief of the scientific personnel, and his colleagues. The 

 high standards established under the energetic and re- 

 sourceful leadership of Dr. Louis A. Bauer and his co- 

 workers were maintained, and the achievements which 

 had marked the previous work of the Carnegie extended. 



But this cruise was tragically the last of the seven 

 great adventures represented by the world cruises of the 

 vessel. Early in the afternoon of November 29, 1929, 

 while she was in the harbor at Apia completing the storage 

 of 2000 gallons of gasoline, there was an explosion as a 

 result of which Captain Ault and cabin boy Anthony Kolar 

 lost their lives, five officers and seamen were injured, 

 and the vessel with all her equipment was destroyed. 



In 376 days at sea nearly 45,000 nautical miles had 

 been covered (see map, p. iv). In addition to the exten- 

 sive magnetic and atmospheric-electric observations, a 

 great number of data and marine collections had been 

 obtained in the fields of chemistry, physics, and biology, 

 including bottom samples and depth determinations. 



The compilations of, and reports on, the scientific 

 results obtained during this last cruise of the Carnegie 

 have been published under the classifications Physical 

 Oceanography, Chemical Oceanography Meteorology, 

 and Biology, in a series numbered, under each subject, 



1, n, and m, etc. 



The preparations for, and the realization of, the pro- 

 gram would have been impossible without the generous 

 cooperation, expert advice, and contributions of special 

 equipment and books received on all sides from interest- 

 ed organizations and investigators both in America and 

 in Europe. Among these, the Carnegie Institution of 

 Washington is indebted to the following: the United States 



Navy Department, including particularly its Hydrographic 

 Office and Naval Research Laboratory; the Signal Corps 

 and the Air Corps of the War Department; the National 

 Museum, the Bureau of Fisheries, the Weather Bureau, 

 the Coast Guard, and the Coast and Geodetic Survey; the 

 Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of 

 California; the Museum of Comparative Zoology of Har- 

 vard University; the School of Geography of Clark Uni- 

 versity; the American Radio Relay League; the Geophys- 

 ical Institute, Bergen, Norway; the Marine Biological 

 Association of the United Kingdom, Plymouth, England; 

 the German Atlantic Expedition of the Meteor . Institut 

 fur Meereskunde, Berlin, Germany; the British Admiral- 

 ty, London, England; the Deutsche Seewarte, Hamburg, 

 Germany; the Carlsberg Laboratorium, Bureau Interna- 

 tional pour I'Exploration de la Mer, and Laboratoire Hy- 

 drographique, Copenhagen, Denmark; the Netherlands 

 Geodetic Commission; the Geodetic Service of Denmark; 

 the Manila Observatory, Nederlandsche Seintoestellen, 

 Fabriek, Hilversum, Holland, and many others. Dr. H. U. 

 Sverdrup, now Director of the Scripps Institution of 

 Oceanography of the University of California, at LaJoUa, 

 California, who was then a Research Associate of the 

 Carnegie Institution of Washington at the Geophysical In- 

 stitute at Bergen, Norway, was consulting oceanographer 

 and physicist. 



In summarizing an enterprise such as the magnetic, 

 electric, and oceanographic surveys of the Carnegie and 

 of her predecessor the Galilee , which covered a quarter 

 of a century, and which required cooperative effort and 

 unselfish interest on the part of many skilled scientists, 

 it is impossible to allocate full and appropriate credit. 

 Captain W. J. Peters laid the broad foundation of the work 

 during the early cruises of both vessels, and Captain J. P. 

 Ault, who had had the good fortune to serve under him, 

 continued and developed that which Captain Peters had so 

 well begun. The original plan of the work was envisioned 

 by L. A. Bauer, the first Director of the Department of 

 Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washing- 

 ton; the development of suitable methods and apparatus 

 was the result of painstaking efforts of his co-workers 

 at Washington. Truly, as was stated by Captain Ault in 

 an address during the commemorative exercises held on 

 board the Carnegie in San Francisco, August 26, 1929, 

 "The story of individual endeavor and enterprise, of in- 

 vention and accomplishment, cannot be told." 



Captain Ault forwarded a report to the Department 

 at the close of each leg of cruise VII. These reports, 

 prepared by him, start with the initial preparation of the 

 vessel, and are presented here as a complete running 

 account of the cruise, until entrance into the harbor at 

 Pago Pago, Samoa. 



A general account of the expedition has been pre- 

 pared and published by J. Harland Paul, ship's surgeon 

 and observer, under the title The last cruise of the Car- 

 negie , and contains a brief chapter on the previous cruis- 

 es of the Carnegie , a description of the vessel and her 

 equipment, and a full narrative of the cruise (Baltimore, 

 Williams and WiUcins Company, 1932; xiii + 331 pages, 

 with 198 illustrations). Excerpts from this book are pre- 

 sented in the present volume; the descriptions of the in- 

 struments are included because of their presentation 

 from the point of view of the informed layman, and a part 

 of the narrative is given as one of the more interesting 



