488 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



in the sea, as well as on the land, and these animals in the ocean will cat 

 every kind of vegetable matter. Tliere appeai-s to be no provision mad<i to 

 overcome this difficulty in the new cable about being laid, a piece of wliich 

 we have before us. The only route tliat was destined to succeed, was in 

 his view, that now being- built overland across this continent by way of 

 Behring Straits. E.xtending in a northwest direction from the Red Eiver 

 of the North there is a route entirely across the British possessions, which 

 is free from mountain ranges, broad rivers, and other serious obstruction. 

 It is inhabited by half breed Indians wlio have been trained to labor by 

 the Hudson's Bay Company, and who could be easily employed to put up 

 the line and keep it in repair. By this route a line of telegraph can be 

 constructed from New York city to the Russian pos8(!Ssions without 

 encountering a sigle mountain in the vidiole distance. This is a fact that 

 those who publish our school geographies do not seem to be aware of. The 

 objection he had heard against this route was the fear of its being des- 

 troyed by the hostile tribes wh(j inliabit the region through which the wire 

 must pass, but he apprehended very little dangm- from this source, as it 

 could be easily made to the interest of these tribe^ to take care of and not 

 destroy it. He was informed by a gentleman of experience engaged in 

 the telegraph business, that there has always been more fear of damage to 

 the wires from the " bulls and bears" of Wall street, than from the savages 

 alon"" the route through which the line passed. He was told that on the 

 arrival of a steamer, or when important news was at hand, the utmost 

 vigilance of the company was exercised to ke(>p the wires from being cut 

 by interested parties who could claim no relationship to savages. In a 

 very short time the Californians will have a line that will reach Russia. 

 And although they have great obstacles tc^ contend with, still there is that 

 enterprise on the western coast thai eventuuUy must succeed. But as he 

 said the best route is that northwest from St Pauls, clear to and across 

 Kamtschatka, by which we avoid the n)ountains and the great storms that 

 Bweep over the plains. And through this valley there will be found phmty 

 of timber for posts. And from the time it strikes the Red River, probably 

 550 miles from St. Pauls, clear thiough to the British possessions, the line 

 can be under the control of the .Hudson's Bay Company. 



Mr. Benjamin P. Finnell exhibited a piece of the first Atlantic cable from 

 on board the steamship "Niagara," and since kept in a damp place; the gutta 

 percha was fV)und to be shrunk haif an inch in the piece eight inches lung, 

 ■while the outer iron wires and the hemp remained the same as when made. 

 He said thnt the outer irr)n wires which C(n'ered the gutta percha was 

 wound over it in a spiral form, whicii of course was elastic, while the cop- 

 per wires in the centre being laid lenglhwiiys could not yield in the least. 

 The effects of this on a cable of some miles in length was obvious. 



Mr. Johnson said he observed the size (<f the wire, which formed the core 

 of the new cable, was very small. In his experience in telegraphy he 

 found that with two of Groves batteries wire like this would become very 

 brittle and is easily broken. Now it is a question of some iinportance, 

 what will be the effect of several batteries of intensity sufficient to send 

 electricity 2,000 miles. We know that such batteries must generate a great 

 amount of heat, sufficient to melt a wire of such fineness. When the line 



