﻿HOW 
  DEEP 
  IS 
  THE 
  OCEAN? 
  — 
  ABBOT. 
  277 
  

  

  It 
  requires 
  from 
  15 
  to 
  25 
  minutes 
  to 
  get 
  a 
  sounding 
  of 
  1,000 
  

   fathoms 
  for 
  surveying 
  purposes, 
  45 
  minutes 
  for 
  2,000, 
  75 
  minutes 
  

   for 
  3,000, 
  and 
  5 
  or 
  6 
  hours 
  for 
  a 
  depth 
  like 
  that 
  found 
  by 
  the 
  

   Nero. 
  This 
  shows 
  what 
  a 
  time-consuming, 
  costly 
  business 
  it 
  is 
  to 
  

   learn 
  about 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  ocean. 
  In 
  fact 
  it 
  is 
  so 
  costly 
  that 
  

   little 
  is 
  known 
  compared 
  with 
  what 
  should 
  be. 
  

  

  The 
  most 
  famous 
  scientific 
  expedition 
  of 
  all 
  history 
  was 
  under- 
  

   taken 
  by 
  the 
  British 
  ship 
  Challenger 
  which 
  started 
  on 
  a 
  three 
  year's 
  

   cruise 
  at 
  Christmas, 
  1872, 
  and 
  returned 
  in 
  May, 
  1876. 
  She 
  spent 
  

   nearly 
  a 
  year 
  in 
  the 
  Atlantic, 
  several 
  months 
  in 
  the 
  Antarctic, 
  and 
  

   over 
  a 
  year 
  in 
  the 
  Pacific. 
  Besides 
  the 
  navigating 
  officers, 
  she 
  car- 
  

   ried 
  naturalists, 
  chemists, 
  geologists, 
  and 
  physicists. 
  Not 
  only 
  

   soundings 
  but 
  dredgings 
  of 
  the 
  mud 
  of 
  the 
  bottom, 
  deep-net 
  hauls 
  of 
  

   fishes 
  and 
  deep-sea 
  animals, 
  temperature 
  measurements, 
  carbonic 
  

   acid 
  and 
  salt 
  measurements, 
  and 
  many 
  other 
  studies 
  were 
  carried 
  

   on 
  every 
  day. 
  The 
  results 
  filled 
  50 
  great 
  quarto 
  volumes, 
  and, 
  like 
  

   Columbus, 
  discovered 
  a 
  new 
  world 
  peopled 
  by 
  creatures 
  even 
  stranger 
  

   than 
  he 
  found 
  in 
  America. 
  

  

  The 
  United 
  States 
  and 
  many 
  other 
  countries 
  have 
  also 
  engaged 
  in 
  

   this 
  interesting 
  ocean 
  study. 
  Notable 
  voyages 
  of 
  scientific 
  discovery 
  

   were 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  late 
  Prince 
  Albert 
  I 
  of 
  Monaco. 
  He 
  was 
  a 
  scientist 
  

   even 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  prince, 
  and 
  not 
  only 
  devoted 
  great 
  sums 
  to 
  build- 
  

   ing 
  and 
  equipping 
  special 
  ships 
  for 
  ocean 
  investigations 
  but 
  went 
  to 
  

   sea 
  himself 
  and 
  took 
  a 
  vigorous 
  part 
  in 
  the 
  actual 
  investigating. 
  

   He 
  received 
  the 
  Murray 
  Gold 
  Medal 
  for 
  his 
  work 
  on 
  oceanography 
  

   from 
  our 
  National 
  Academy 
  of 
  Sciences 
  in 
  April, 
  1921, 
  and 
  lectured 
  

   at 
  Washington 
  on 
  his 
  work. 
  

  

  But 
  of 
  what 
  good 
  is 
  it, 
  says 
  some 
  one, 
  this 
  making 
  difficult 
  sound- 
  

   ings 
  and 
  hauls 
  way 
  out 
  to 
  sea? 
  In 
  the 
  first 
  place, 
  all 
  knowledge 
  is 
  

   good 
  to 
  take 
  away 
  ignorance 
  and 
  superstition 
  and 
  point 
  the 
  way 
  to 
  

   new 
  discoveries. 
  When 
  one 
  throws 
  down 
  a 
  handful 
  of 
  seeds, 
  he 
  can 
  

   not 
  tell 
  which 
  ones 
  they 
  will 
  be 
  that 
  will 
  survive 
  and 
  give 
  the 
  

   hundredfold 
  increase. 
  So 
  it 
  is 
  with 
  discoveries. 
  No 
  one 
  could 
  have 
  

   predicted 
  in 
  1830 
  that 
  Faraday's 
  and 
  Henry's 
  experiments 
  on 
  

   magnetic 
  effects 
  of 
  electric 
  currents 
  would 
  have 
  grown 
  up 
  into 
  the 
  

   telegraph, 
  telephone, 
  dynamo, 
  and 
  all 
  modern 
  electrical 
  installations. 
  

  

  But 
  soundings 
  are 
  not 
  only 
  valuable 
  as 
  interesting 
  knowledge 
  in 
  

   themselves. 
  They 
  have 
  a 
  bearing 
  on 
  many 
  other 
  scientific 
  problems 
  

   of 
  the 
  tides, 
  the 
  condition 
  of 
  the 
  earth 
  in 
  past 
  geological 
  epochs, 
  the 
  

   causes 
  of 
  ocean 
  currents, 
  the 
  climate, 
  and 
  others. 
  More 
  directly 
  

   still, 
  they 
  are 
  indispensable 
  for 
  submarine 
  cable 
  laying. 
  Cables 
  are 
  

   costly 
  things, 
  and 
  repairing 
  of 
  them 
  is 
  a 
  costly 
  business. 
  It 
  makes 
  

  

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