286 SCIENCE IN SHORT CHAPTERS* 



neighbors instead of destroying it, as under the old war- 

 like rule. 



Everything concerning these waves is thus of great na- 

 tional interest, the loss of life and sacrifice of wealth by 

 marine casualties being so great. Some curious old stories 

 are extant, describing the exploits of ancient mariners in 

 stilling the waves by pouring oil upon them. Both Plu- 

 tarch and Pliny speak of it as a regular practice. Much 

 later than this, in a letter dated Batavia, January 5, 1770, 

 written by M. Tengragel, and addressed to Count Ben- 

 tinck, the following passage occurs: " Near the islands 

 Paul and Amsterdam we met with a storm, which had 

 nothing particular in it worthy of being communicated to 

 you, except that the captain found himself obliged, for 

 greater safety in wearing the ship, to pour oil into the sea 

 to prevent the waves breaking over her, which had an ex- 

 cellent effect, and succeeded in preserving -us. As he 

 poured out but a little at a time, the East India Company 

 owes, perhaps, its ship to only six demi-aumes of olive oil. 

 I was present on deck when this was done, and should not 

 have mentioned this circumstance to you, but that we have 

 found people here so prejudiced against the experiment as 

 to, make it necessary for the officers on board and myself to 

 give a certificate of the truth on this head, of which we 

 made no difficulty." 



The idea was regarded with similar prejudice by scientific 

 men until Benjamin Franklin had his attention called to 

 it, as he thus narrates: " In 1757, being at sea in a fleet 

 of ninety-six sail, bound for Louisbourg, I observed the 

 wakes of two of the ships to be remarkably smooth, Avhile 

 all the others were ruffled by the wind, which blew fresh. 

 Being puzzled with the differing appearance, I at last 

 pointed it out to the captain, and asked him the meaning 

 of it. 'The cooks,' said he, ' have, I suppose, been just 

 emptying their greasy water through the scuppers, which 

 has greased the sides of the ships a little.' And this an- 

 swer he gave me with an air of some little contempt, as to 

 a person ignorant of what everybody else knew. In my 

 own mind, I first slighted the solution, though I was not 

 able to think of another." 



