44 Original Articles. [ Jan. 
and amongst these there are some capable of doing mischief. That 
they can penetrate gutta-percha solely by means of the boring organs 
with which they are provided, we altogether disbelieve. But, in most 
cases, there is ground for suspecting that their penctrative powers are 
materially aided by secretions capable of acting chemically on the sub- 
stances attacked. Of the nature of the secretion, or its possible effect on 
caoutchouc or gutta-percha, we know nothing. But this is no reason for 
repudiating the possibility of an event, which if brought about only once, 
in the 2,000 miles of cable, would prove fatal to its working integrity. 
It only remains to be added, that we are no alarmists. We would 
neither conjure up, magnify, nor ignore danger. What we desire and 
believe to be indispensable, if telegraphic communication across the 
Atlantic is to be viewed in any other light than as a source of national 
chagrin, is that measures should be forthwith adopted to add to the 
scanty information we already possess regarding the sea-bed; under 
the firm conviction that whatever difficulties may present themselves, 
they require only to be understood to ensure their being surmounted. 
IJ. Tse Aruantic CABLE AND ITS ‘TEACHINGS. 
By Wiu1am Crookes, F.R.S. 
THERE is scarcely a question of more importance at the present day, 
than that of telegraphic communication with India. When these pages 
are before the public the line which is to connect the two hemispheres 
will be en route to its destination; and judging by the vast experience 
accumulated during the construction and laying of the old Atlantic 
line, and the invaluable evidence which on its demise was elicited at 
the inquest, there is every reasonable hope that the new enterprise will 
be successful. 
A great amount of misconception prevails respecting the now 
defunct Atlantic cable, and pending the successful termination of the 
undertaking now in progress, we propose to disinter from the pon- 
derous official documents some portions of its history which are not 
generally known, and, with the aid of other material now before us, to 
examine what is the reasonable prospect of success or failure in other 
similar undertakings. 
The problem to be solved is comprised in a very small compass. 
There is not much difficulty in making a cable perfect as to its 
electrical conditions, and should any flaw or faulty part happen to 
pass the first scrutiny, skilled electricians can at once detect it. The 
great difficulty which now weighs like an incubus upon every large 
undertaking of this kind, is to submerge the rope without injury. 
There is now an absolute certainty of making a cable of any length 
perfect, but we destroy it in attempting to get it to the bottom of the 
sea. If the insulated wire, in as good a state as when it leaves the 
contractor’s works, could but be transferred uninjured to the ocean’s 
bed, it would lie there as quietly as if it were at the bottom of a well, 
and would last for hundreds of years. 
