80 MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY 



Morse, Professor Faraday, Professor Bache, and Pro- 

 fessor W. Thomson, who have rendered more efficient 

 aid without receiving any compensation". ^ 



In October of the same year, the telegraph ceased to 

 operate because of faulty insulation. It appears that 

 the company had not carefully followed Maury's advice 

 as to the size of the cable, and he had not himself been 

 sanguine of success. After the failure, he contended 

 that all that was needed was a cable heavy enough to 

 sink with its own weight, and that there was no need for 

 the iron wire which was wound round the gutta-percha 

 that would itself be impervious to decay, that the strain 

 of weight was all on the inner core of copper and had 

 thus caused the trouble, that the iron wire on the out- 

 side might have interfered with the electric current, and 

 that one large conducting wire instead of the seven 

 threads woven together would have been better. But 

 he added that he had no doubt as to the ultimate success 

 of a telegraph across the Atlantic. Because of the Civil 

 War, however, this was not to be accomplished until 

 July, 1866; and as will be seen later, circumstances were 

 then such as to prevent Maury from having any part in 

 the final successful culmination of the project to which 

 he had given so much thought and valuable assistance. 



Maury's researches in the science of the sea could not, 

 perhaps, have been so fruitful in practical achievements, 

 had there not been at this time such a widespread desire 

 to learn more about the ocean. In America, it was a 

 veritable age of geographical investigation and dis- 



' There is a tradition that Field said in this speech: "I am a man of few 

 words: Maury furnished the brains, England gave the money, and I did the 

 work." But diligent search has failed to discover any authority for the state- 

 ment. 



