﻿OCEANOGRAPHY 
  — 
  STETSON 
  221 
  

  

  collected. 
  Although 
  the 
  publications 
  in 
  biology 
  bulk 
  by 
  far 
  the 
  largest, 
  

   nevertheless 
  considerable 
  geological 
  information 
  was 
  also 
  obtained. 
  

   The 
  depths 
  and 
  main 
  contours 
  of 
  the 
  ocean 
  basins 
  were 
  determined 
  

   for 
  the 
  first 
  time, 
  and 
  the 
  general 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  bottom 
  deposits 
  

   was 
  mapped. 
  Many 
  out-of-the-way 
  corners 
  of 
  the 
  world 
  were 
  charted, 
  

   and 
  something 
  was 
  added 
  to 
  our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  ocean 
  currents 
  both 
  

   on 
  the 
  surface 
  and 
  at 
  various 
  depths. 
  Pioneer 
  work 
  was 
  also 
  accom- 
  

   plished 
  in 
  the 
  field 
  of 
  hydrography 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  chemistry 
  of 
  the 
  ocean. 
  

   Today 
  it 
  is, 
  of 
  course, 
  easy 
  to 
  pick 
  the 
  flaws. 
  Methods 
  in 
  every 
  field 
  

   have 
  become 
  more 
  precise 
  ; 
  improved 
  gear 
  has 
  been 
  developed 
  as 
  well 
  

   as 
  more 
  exact 
  procedure. 
  Nevertheless, 
  theirs 
  was 
  the 
  pioneer 
  attempt, 
  

   and 
  with 
  that 
  voyage 
  the 
  broad 
  framework 
  of 
  the 
  science 
  as 
  a 
  whole 
  

   was 
  laid 
  down 
  to 
  remain 
  scarcely 
  altered 
  until 
  modern 
  times. 
  Others 
  

   have 
  profited 
  by 
  their 
  experiences 
  and 
  improved 
  on 
  their 
  results, 
  but, 
  

   taken 
  by 
  itself, 
  no 
  other 
  subsequent 
  expedition 
  has 
  left 
  so 
  deep 
  an 
  

   impress. 
  

  

  Interest 
  was 
  so 
  stimulated 
  in 
  other 
  countries 
  that 
  a 
  succession 
  of 
  

   deep-water 
  expeditions 
  to 
  various 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  world 
  followed. 
  By 
  

   1900 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  had 
  sent 
  out 
  Blake, 
  Albatross, 
  and 
  Tuscarora; 
  

   the 
  French, 
  Tra/vailleur 
  and 
  Talisman; 
  the 
  Germans, 
  Valdivia 
  and 
  

   Gauss; 
  the 
  Italians, 
  Vettor 
  Pisarni; 
  the 
  Danes, 
  Ingolf; 
  and 
  the 
  Dutch, 
  

   Siboga, 
  and 
  this 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  completes 
  the 
  list. 
  None 
  of 
  these 
  cruises 
  

   was 
  so 
  extended 
  as 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Challenger, 
  and 
  although 
  the 
  gear 
  was 
  

   constantly 
  being 
  improved 
  the 
  work 
  was 
  laid 
  out 
  along 
  essentially 
  the 
  

   same 
  lines. 
  Although 
  the 
  expedition 
  sailed 
  more 
  than 
  50 
  years 
  ago, 
  

   the 
  voyage 
  marks 
  the 
  birth 
  of 
  oceanography 
  as 
  a 
  science. 
  Conse- 
  

   quently 
  some 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  vessel 
  and 
  her 
  gear 
  is 
  pertinent 
  as 
  a 
  

   background 
  against 
  which 
  to 
  view 
  modern 
  developments. 
  

  

  EARLY 
  EQUIPMENT 
  AND 
  METHODS 
  

  

  Selected 
  by 
  the 
  British 
  Admiralty 
  for 
  this 
  voyage, 
  the 
  Challenger 
  

   was 
  a 
  corvette 
  of 
  some 
  2,000 
  tons 
  with 
  auxiliary 
  steam. 
  The 
  guns 
  

   were 
  removed, 
  and 
  she 
  was 
  refitted 
  in 
  various 
  other 
  ways 
  for 
  her 
  new 
  

   purpose. 
  She 
  still 
  remained 
  a 
  navy 
  vessel, 
  however, 
  and 
  Capt. 
  George 
  

   S. 
  Nares, 
  an 
  officer 
  of 
  much 
  experience 
  in 
  surveying, 
  was 
  given 
  

   command. 
  Prof. 
  C. 
  Wyville 
  Thomson 
  was 
  in 
  charge 
  of 
  the 
  civilian 
  

   scientists, 
  and 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  the 
  naval 
  and 
  civilian 
  staffs 
  was 
  kept 
  

   separate. 
  Thomson 
  (1877, 
  p. 
  11) 
  writes 
  of 
  the 
  voyage: 
  

  

  the 
  chart 
  room 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  is 
  a 
  commodious 
  compartment 
  on 
  the 
  starboard 
  side, 
  

   with 
  ranges 
  of 
  shelves 
  stocked 
  with 
  charts 
  and 
  hydrographic, 
  magnetic, 
  and 
  

   meteorological 
  instruments. 
  All 
  work 
  in 
  these 
  departments, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  

   whole 
  of 
  the 
  practical 
  operations 
  in 
  dredging, 
  sounding, 
  and 
  taking 
  bottom 
  and 
  

   serial 
  temperatures, 
  is 
  conducted 
  by 
  the 
  naval 
  officers. 
  

  

  