170 



INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS OF OCEANOGRAPHY 



District of Columbia 



Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie 

 Institution of Washington ('37) 



History or origin: The Department of Terrestrial 

 Magnetism was founded through the initiative of 

 Dr. Louis A. Bauer, who submitted in 1902 to 

 the Trustees of the Carnegie Institution of Wash- 

 ington a plan for an international magnetic bureau. 

 This plan was supported by leading investigators 

 in terrestrial magnetism and terrestrial electricity 

 at home and abroad. The purpose of the pro- 

 posed bureau was "to investigate such problems 

 of worldwide interest as relate to the magnetic 

 and electric conditions of the Earth and its 

 atmosphere, not specifically the subject of inquiry 

 of any one country, but of international concern 

 and benefit." The Department was formally 

 established under the auspices of the Carnegie 

 Institution of Washington in general accordance 

 with this plan April 1, 1904. 



One of the chief problems undertaken was the 

 magnetic survey of the oceans as a part of the 

 problem of the world-wide survey. The magnetic 

 survey of the oceans was begun in the Pacific 

 Ocean and was continued during August 1905 to 

 May 1908 with the chartered brigantine Galilee, 

 which had been adapted for the purpose of mag- 

 netic observations at sea. The success of these 

 cruises and the importance of disclosing errors in 

 magnetic charts led the Institution to authorize 

 the construction of a non-magnetic ship, the 

 Carnegie. This vessel was launched June 12, 

 1909, and carried on work in all oceans between 

 latitudes 80° north and 61° south until November 

 29, 1929, when she was destroyed by an explosion 

 while in the harbor at Apia, Samoa. The com- 

 bined aggregate of the three cruises of the 

 Galilee and of the seven cruises of the Carnegie 

 was 361,413 nautical miles. 



When the Carnegie was overhauled prepara- 

 tory to her seventh cruise (May 1928 to November 

 1929), laboratories were built and equipment was 

 added so that in addition to continued magnetic 

 and electric work an intensive program of physical 

 and chemical oceanography and marine biology 

 might be executed. The results included physical 

 and chemical observations at 162 stations (in 

 general from .surface to bottom), 1,014 biological 

 samples, 1,500 .sonic depths, and 87 bottom- 

 samples. The cruise covered the northern and 

 southwestern portions of the North Atlantic, and 



the eastern portion of the South Pacific Ocean 

 and the North Pacific Ocean. 



The central laboratory, offices, and shop of the 

 Department were located in rented quarters in 

 Washington from 1904 to February 1914, when 

 site and laboratory-building were provided five 

 miles northwest of the business section of Wash- 

 ington, D. C. A special non-magnetic standardiz- 

 ing observatory was built in 1914 and a special 

 non-magnetic laboratory in 1918, to which was 

 added in 1933 a large extension, designed particu- 

 larly for research in nuclear physics. Dr. Louis 

 A. Bauer was Director through 1929 and there- 

 after Director Emeritus until his death April 12, 

 1932. Dr. John A. Fleming, Assistant Director 

 from 1922, Acting Director from 1930, became 

 Director January 1, 1935. The annual grant of 

 the Institution for maintaining the Department 

 increased from about $20,000 in 1904 to about 

 $189,000 in 1937, with a peak of about $265,000 

 in 1929, at the end of which year the Carnegie 

 was lost. 



Location: The Department occupies a site of nine 

 acres about five miles northwest of the center of 

 Washington, D. C. 



Organization to xohich attached: Carnegie Institution 

 of Washington, of which the Department is a unit. 



Purposes: Major, research in terrestrial magnetism 

 and terrestrial electricity; oceanographical ob- 

 servations and research with particular reference 

 to the continuous changes taking place in the 

 Earth's magnetic and electric fields, particularly 

 over oceanic areas; oceanographical research in 

 connection with magnetic surveys at sea; the- 

 oretical and experimental investigations in nuclear 

 physics in connection with their bearings on 

 terrestrial magnetism and electricity; continuous 

 observations of the magnetic and electric elements 

 and of ionization of the upper atmosphere (iono- 

 sphere) at stations in Peru and Western Australia. 



Scope of activities: Researches in terrestrial mag- 

 netism and electricity and cosmical relations; 

 magnetic surveys over oceans and on land; con- 

 tinuous recording of magnetic and electric phe- 

 nomena; researches on the physics and chemistry 

 of sea-water samples and data, on the biological 

 collections, on the meteorological results, and on 

 marine bottom-samples, obtained during Cruise 

 VII of the Carnegie. 



Equipment: 1 laboratory building, 4 floors, 52 x 102 

 feet, with deck 29 x 79 feet, and underground 

 constant-temperature rooms. 



