344 POPULAR LECTURES AND ADDRESSES. 



it is impossible to produce in the great lengths the 

 same quality of wire as is habitually made by the 

 best makers of pianoforte wire. He said that, 

 although he could produce wire of great strength, 

 he found it impossible to attain the same temper 

 as that of the pianoforte wire. Acting upon his 

 valuable advice, I have now begun to use piano- 

 forte wire of the best quality. Wire of an 

 inferior quality is brittle at places, and breaks 

 when it kinks. I believe not a single case of 

 this has happened with the Webster and 

 Horsfall pianoforte wire now used. 



The lengths which Webster and Horsfall 

 supply of this wire are about 200 yards. But 

 a splice in every hundred fathoms is no 

 inconvenience whatever. Perhaps it is rather 

 an advantage : because, practically the vigilance 

 required to prevent accident through the 

 stripping of a splice by any sharp obstacle 

 is apt to flag dangerously if the passage of a 

 splice is a rare occurrence. 



The most serious defect of the simple 

 apparatus which I used in my first deep-sea 



