ON DEEP-SEA SOUNDING. 343 



a-half of wire on one side is bent close along the 

 other in a long spiral, with a lay of about one turn 

 per inch, and the same is done for the free foot and 

 a-half on the other side. The ends are then served 

 round firmly with twine, and the splice is complete. 

 I have tested scores of splices made in this way, 

 and in no one instance, even with splices only one 

 foot long, did the wire break in the splice or near to 

 it. It always broke some distance away, showing 

 that the wire close to the splice was as strong as other 

 parts of the wire, and of course in the splice itselt 

 the two wires together give a greater strength 

 than exists anywhere else. In upwards of one 

 hundred soundings on the East and North coasts 

 of Brazil, and in the Bay of Biscay, in depths of 

 from 500 to 2,700 fathoms, partly with Johnson's 

 special wire, and partly with Webster and 

 Horsfall's, there has in no one instance been a 

 failure of the splice. The splice is made very 

 easily, and in a few minutes. 



The difficulty with regard to splices being 

 altogether got over, we are freer in our choice 

 of the wire to be used. Mr. Johnson tells me that 



