﻿224 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  194 
  3 
  

  

  only 
  1 
  year 
  after 
  the 
  return 
  of 
  the 
  Challenger, 
  that 
  Agassiz, 
  with 
  his 
  

   background 
  of 
  practical 
  mining 
  experience, 
  first 
  introduced 
  wire 
  rope 
  

   for 
  dredging. 
  The 
  tremendous 
  advantages 
  over 
  hemp 
  rope 
  — 
  greater 
  

   tensile 
  strength 
  for 
  a 
  given 
  diameter, 
  ease 
  of 
  handling, 
  and 
  ease 
  of 
  

   storage 
  — 
  are, 
  of 
  course, 
  obvious, 
  and 
  its 
  value 
  for 
  use 
  at 
  sea 
  was 
  

   quickly 
  demonstrated. 
  Nevertheless, 
  considerable 
  time 
  elapsed 
  before 
  

   it 
  was 
  generally 
  adopted 
  in 
  Europe. 
  To 
  Lieutenant 
  Commander 
  

   Sigsbee 
  (1880), 
  the 
  man 
  who 
  first 
  successfully 
  proved 
  the 
  entire 
  prac- 
  

   ticability 
  of 
  sounding 
  with 
  piano 
  wire 
  by 
  a 
  modification 
  of 
  Lord 
  Kel- 
  

   vin's 
  machine, 
  should 
  go 
  the 
  credit 
  for 
  the 
  proper 
  installation 
  of 
  the 
  

   winches 
  and 
  all 
  the 
  details 
  for 
  the 
  practical 
  handling 
  of 
  the 
  dredging 
  

   wire 
  aboard 
  the 
  Blake. 
  Sigsbee, 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  remembered, 
  later 
  was 
  in 
  

   command 
  of 
  the 
  U. 
  S. 
  S. 
  Maine 
  when 
  she 
  blew 
  up 
  in 
  Havana 
  Harbor. 
  

  

  The 
  Blake 
  worked 
  off 
  the 
  east 
  coast 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  in 
  the 
  

   Gulf 
  of 
  Mexico, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  Caribbean, 
  in 
  shallow 
  water 
  and 
  deep, 
  

   and 
  these 
  cruises 
  marked 
  the 
  most 
  serious 
  attempt 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  

   States, 
  up 
  to 
  that 
  time, 
  to 
  solve 
  oceanographic 
  problems. 
  They 
  were 
  

   but 
  the 
  forerunners 
  of 
  Agassiz' 
  many 
  expeditions, 
  as 
  he 
  remained 
  

   active 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  his 
  death 
  in 
  1910. 
  He 
  chartered 
  many 
  ves- 
  

   sels 
  privately, 
  and 
  even 
  when 
  using 
  the 
  Albatross, 
  belonging 
  to 
  the 
  

   United 
  States 
  Bureau 
  of 
  Fisheries, 
  he 
  bore 
  a 
  large 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  ex- 
  

   pense 
  of 
  operation. 
  His 
  voyages 
  took 
  him 
  into 
  the 
  Pacific 
  and 
  

   Indian 
  Oceans 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  into 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  and 
  throughout 
  the 
  West 
  

   Indies. 
  Although 
  biology 
  was 
  his 
  chosen 
  field, 
  he 
  took 
  a 
  lively 
  

   interest 
  in 
  the 
  coral-reef 
  problem 
  and 
  probably 
  investigated 
  more 
  

   reefs 
  than 
  has 
  any 
  geologist. 
  He 
  added 
  hundreds 
  of 
  deep-water 
  

   soundings 
  to 
  the 
  charts, 
  and 
  in 
  certain 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  Pacific 
  they 
  

   remain 
  to 
  this 
  day 
  the 
  only 
  ones 
  that 
  have 
  been 
  taken. 
  It 
  does 
  not 
  

   often 
  happen 
  that 
  a 
  single 
  individual 
  is 
  able 
  to 
  further 
  the 
  develop- 
  

   ment 
  of 
  his 
  particular 
  field 
  to 
  such 
  an 
  extent 
  or 
  to 
  exert 
  so 
  much 
  

   influence 
  on 
  it. 
  

  

  The 
  Prince 
  of 
  Monaco 
  became 
  interested 
  in 
  oceanography 
  as 
  early 
  

   as 
  1885 
  and 
  used 
  his 
  own 
  private 
  fortune 
  to 
  finance 
  his 
  researches. 
  

   He 
  successively 
  equipped 
  several 
  yachts 
  for 
  this 
  type 
  of 
  work, 
  fre- 
  

   quently 
  commanding 
  them 
  himself, 
  and 
  built 
  a 
  laboratory 
  and 
  mu- 
  

   seum 
  at 
  Monaco 
  where 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  his 
  investigations 
  could 
  be 
  

   worked 
  up 
  and 
  published. 
  A 
  long 
  series 
  of 
  important 
  reports 
  and 
  

   monographs 
  have 
  come 
  from 
  his 
  institution, 
  and 
  oceanography 
  has 
  

   been 
  greatly 
  advanced 
  by 
  the 
  efforts 
  of 
  this 
  one 
  man, 
  particularly 
  in 
  

   the 
  field 
  of 
  biology. 
  

  

  Nansen 
  began 
  his 
  career 
  as 
  an 
  oceanographer 
  by 
  planning 
  and 
  

   successfully 
  carrying 
  out 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  remarkable 
  voyages 
  that 
  

   has 
  ever 
  been 
  undertaken. 
  His 
  idea 
  was 
  to 
  freeze 
  a 
  vessel 
  in 
  the 
  

   ice 
  and 
  drift 
  across 
  the 
  Polar 
  Sea, 
  possibly 
  reaching 
  the 
  Pole 
  itself. 
  

  

  