THE DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN. 297 



here and there hy the munificence of individuals, and attempts made 

 with them to gauge the heavens and sound out the regions of space. 

 Could it be more difficult to sound out the sea than to gauge the 

 blue ether and fathom the vaults of the sky ? The result of the 

 astronomical undertakings* hes in the discovery that what, through 

 other instrmnents of less power, appeared as clusters of stars, were, 

 by these of larger powers, separated into groups, and what had been 

 reported as nebula?, could now be resolved into clusters ; that in 

 certain directions, the abyss beyond these faint objects is decked 

 with other nebulae, which these great instruments may brmg to 

 light but cannot resolve ; and that there are still regions and realms 

 beyond which the rays of the brightest sun in the sky have neither 

 the intensity nor the force to reach, much less to penetrate. And 

 what is more, these monster instruments have revealed to us, in those 

 distant regions, forms or aggregations of matter which suggest to 

 some the idea of the existence of physical forces there that we do 

 not understand, and which raise the question in speculative minds, 

 Is gravitation a universal thing, and do its forces penetrate every 

 abyss of space ? Could we not gauge the sea as well as the sky, 

 and devise an instrument for penetrating the depths of the ocean as 

 well as the depths of space ? Mariners were curious concerning the 

 bottom of the sea. Though nothing thence had been brought to 

 hght, exploration had invested the subject vdth. additional interest, 

 and increased the desire to know more. In this state of the case, 

 the idea of a common twine thread for a sounding-hne, and a cannon 

 ball for a sinker, was suggested. It was a beautiful conception ; 

 for, besides its simplicity, it had in its favour the greatest of recom- 

 mendations, it could be readily put into practice. 



567. Well-directed attempts to fathom the ocean began now to 

 The great d -pths and be made mth such a line and plummet, and the 

 ^tiempis. " ""^ pubhc mind was astonished at the vast depths that 

 were at first reported. Lieutenant Walsh, of the United States 

 schooner " Taney," reported acastmth the deep-sea lead at thirty- 

 four thousand feet without bottom. His sounding-line was an 

 iron we more than eleven miles in length. Lieutenant Berry- 

 man, of the United States brig "Dolphin," reported another un- 

 successful attempt to fathom mid-ocean with a line thiiiy-nine 

 thousand feet in length. Captaui Denham, of Her Britannic 

 Majesty's ship " Herald," reported bottom in the South Atlantic at 

 the depth of forty-six thousand feet ; and Lieutenant J. P. Parker, 

 * See the works of Hersehel and Kosse, and their telescopes. 



