MIRACLES OF SCIENCE 



recently been devised a form of that instrument which 

 utterly negatives all that has just been said. The 

 newest compass, and the one with which eight or ten 

 of our largest battleships are now equipped, has to 

 do neither with magnetic needles nor with the mag- 

 netic poles. It is quite uninfluenced by the proximity 

 of metals, utterly disregarding the steel structure of 

 the ship. And in whatever latitude or longitude the 

 ship may lie, this new and revolutionary non-magnetic 

 compass points inflexibly, straight in the line of the 

 earth's true pole or axis of revolution, taking no cog- 

 nizance whatever of magnetic meridians. 



The magnetic compass of the ordinary ocean liner 

 is placed on the upper deck, as far as possible from the 

 steel structure of the ship, and it is carefully correct- 

 ed for the disturbing influence of the particular ship 

 in which it is placed. After such correction is made, 

 no metal is allowed near the compass. The blade of 

 a jackknife in a man's pocket, or the steel ribs in a 

 woman's corset, if anywhere near the compass, might 

 deflect it sufficiently to disturb the calculations of 

 the navigator. 



In the case of the battleship, it is impossible to 

 make permanent correction for all the disturbances 

 due to the steel structures of which the entire ship is 

 composed. The turning of a turret of a warship in 

 action suffices to put the best magnetic compass di- 

 rectly out of commission. And at best the warship 

 is navigated in foggy or cloudy weather with an ele- 

 ment of uncertainty as to just what magnetic influ- 

 ences may be disturbing the compass. 



But the new compass of which I speak does away 



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