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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1920. 



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The Re-challenge to the Ocean. 



WE are glad to notice the general approval 

 with which Prof. Herdman's suggestion of 

 a renewed Challenger deep-sea expedition has been 

 received, and we hope that men of science will not 

 fail to take immediate advantage of the present 

 very favourable opportunity for urging upon the 

 Government the renewal of the great enterprise of 

 1872. Never, unhappily, had the population of 

 these islands to think so much and so anxiously 

 of maritime affairs as during the four years that 

 began in August, 1914. We believe that this 

 concern did not die away when peace was 

 arranged, and we may be sure that very many 

 people are now interested, not only in the further 

 development of our mercantile marine and deep-sea 

 fisheries, but also in the exploration of the ocean 

 as a matter of pure scientific research. 



It was, therefore, very fortunate that this was the 

 subject of the Presidential Address at Cardiff, and 

 that the latter succeeded in arousing public interest 

 in a remarkable manner. Politically, also, the 

 time is opportune. Never has the naval supremacy 

 of this country been so unquestioned as it is at the 

 present time, and for this we have to thank the 

 high level of character and resource that has been 

 exhibited by all grades of seagoing men, not only 

 professional sailors but also fishermen and yachts- 

 NO. 2656, VOL. 106] 



men. These qualities must be our best defence 

 in the unforeseeable dangers that may yet threaten 

 us as a nation, and we can think of no better way 

 of cultivating them than by endeavouring to arouse 

 a general interest in everything connected with the 

 sea. Here, then, we have a way, by giving the 

 • people the opportunity of following with interest 

 the progress of a great national voyage of deep- 

 sea exploration. 



Thus, both from the point of view of national 

 security and that of the development of our marine 

 resources, much is to be said in favour of a re- 

 newed Challenger expedition, but here our pre- 

 dominant interest ought to be that of pure scientific 

 investigation. It is fifty years since the original 

 proposal for a national oceanographical voyage of 

 exploration was made, and at that time the diffi- 

 culties of fitting out a ship for that purpose were 

 much greater than they are now : thus, the officers 

 of the Challenger hesitated for a long time as to 

 whether they ought to use the recently adopted 

 steel wire for sounding and dredging in preference 

 to hempen rope, and finally they decided upon the 

 latter. In almost every respect the details of 

 oceanographic methods have been improved almost 

 out of recognition. It took several hours then to 

 make a deep sounding, and a whole day to work a 

 dredge for an hour or so in very deep water, and 

 then the results were often uncertain. Now these 

 operations can be carried out expeditiously, and 

 with every prospect of complete success, so greatly 

 have the cable ships improved sounding apparatus 

 and the steam trawlers fishing gear. Plankton 

 methods have been so intensively studied during 

 the last twenty years that it should now be possible 

 to arrange a programme that may solve many 

 theoretical questions with the indispensable 

 economy of labour. Physical and chemical methods 

 for the determination of temperature, density, and 

 other sea-water variables have been developed to 

 a remarkable degree by the international organisa- 

 tion for fishery investigations. 



There may possibly be suggestions for new 

 methods of research in the study of the artifices 

 adopted in anti-submarine warfare. VVe may be 

 certain that with the perfected apparatus now at 

 the disposal of an ocean-going marine-biological 

 and hydrographic expedition results may be ob- 

 tained much more quickly and accurately than in 

 1872. It is true that various deep-sea expeditions 

 have been made since the time of the Challenger, 

 and that the new methods have been employed. 

 Still, those expeditions were mostly rather small 



