LA YING DEEP-SEA CABLES. 437 



caught round by its chain ; and the grapnel, the 

 short length of chain next it, and about 200 

 fathoms of the wire rope, were proved to have been 

 dragged along the bottom, by being found when 

 brought on board to have interstices filled with 

 soft light gray ooze (of which the speaker showed 

 a specimen to the Royal Society). These results 

 are quite in accordance with the dynamical theory 

 indicated above (see Appendix II.), according to 

 which a length of such rope as the electric cable, 

 hanging down with no weight at its lower end, and 

 held by a ship moving through the water at half a 

 mile an hour, would slope down to the bottom at 

 an angle from the vertical of only 22 ; and the 

 much heavier and denser wire-rope that was used 

 for the grappling would go down at the same angle 

 with a considerably more rapid motion of the 

 ship, or at a much steeper slope with the same 

 rate of motion of the ship. 



The only remaining question is : How is the 

 cable to be brought to the surface when hooked ? 

 The operations of last August failed from the 

 available rope, tackle, and hauling machine not 



