CHAPTER IV 



SIR JOHN MURRAY, THE PIONEER OF MODERN 

 OCEANOGRAPHY 



We now pass to the third and last of the periods chosen 

 to illustrate oceanographic research during the nineteenth 

 century, and I associate it with the name of Sir John Murray, 

 whose life and work extended to the year of the outbreak 

 of war ; and, as in the two former cases, I shaU begin with 

 some account of the man, his surroundings and the conditions 

 under which he did his work, and then deal with some of 

 the results of his contributions to oceanography. Murray's 

 period was absolutely continuous with that of Sir Wjmlle 

 Thomson, and in fact overlapped it ; so that, as we shall 

 see, it fell to Murray to continue and complete the work 

 of Thomson, in addition to undertaking other more recent 

 investigations. While Sir Wyville Thomson's name will 

 always be remembered as the leader of the " Challenger " 

 expedition. Sir John Murray will be known in the history 

 of science as the naturalist who brought to a successful 

 issue the investigation of the enormous collections and the 

 publication of the scientific results of that memorable 

 voyage : these two Scots share the honour of having guided 

 the destinies of what is still the greatest oceanographic ex- 

 ploration of all times. 



John Murray, although a typical Scot in all his ways, was 

 born in Canada — at Coburg, Ontario, on March 3, 1841. 

 But he was of Scottish descent, and returned in early life 

 to maternal relatives in Scotland to complete his education. 

 The lives of our three pioneers just occupied a century (1816 



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