THE 180US- (Cont'd) 



be much bcltci for Ihe men, liowever, if a reasonable amount of luncli tongues, 

 canned cliickeii, and beef extract could be furnislied them, to give more variety 

 to their diet." 



Perplexing also were the efforts involved in obtaining bottom soundings by hand casts. The 

 following samples from the sounding instructions issued by the ship Ranger are illustrative: 

 "The weights of hand leads must be proportioned to the work . . . the heaviest 

 lead that the leadsman can swing, without too great fatigue, is to be preferred. 



In singing out the sounding the usual 'song' should be discarded, especially 

 in rapid sounding. The form of report that the leadsman should make of his 

 sounding is: 



'Two fathoms' ( 1 2 feet) 

 'Three - one' ( 19 feet) 

 'One - one and a half (7 1/2 feet) 

 'Five feet' (5 feet) 

 'One fathom" (6 feet) 

 'One fathom and half a foot' (6 1/2 feet) 

 'One - one' (7 feet), and so forth. 

 ... All lead lines in use should be constantly soaked .... All lead lines, new or 

 old, should be measured at least once a day when in use. . . . Spare leads should 

 be kept in the sounding boat at all times. Do not increase the weight of lead on a 

 line unnecessarily ... A change from a 7 to a 10 pound lead will frequently 

 stretch a small line unduly, with a consequent error in the soundings. Besides, a 

 heavy lead on a small line will cut the leadsman's hands. 



The recorder of each boat should be supplied with a small clock with a 

 large second hand, a whistle (preferably of bone or ivory-metal is apt to make 

 the lips sore) a number of pencils (rather hard-records made in soft pencil smear 

 readily), rubber, penknife, and working sounding book and one spare one, and 

 an angle book ... It is not possible to get reliable soundings with a hand lead in 

 over 30 fathoms under average conditions. At each ten (fifteen or twenty) 

 seconds the recorder will indicate to the leadsman to sound by means of his 

 whistle." 

 In 1891 - 1892, the gunboat Thetis, in company with the Fish Commission Steamer 

 Albatross, conducted surveys of proposed cable routes between California and Hawaii. 



Commander Charles D. Sigsbee was appointed Hydrographer of the Navy in 1893 and served 

 in that position until 1897. In 1896 he was the first to introduce the use of electrical equipment 

 for processing marine meteorological data. Sigsbee was also the inventor of many other 

 hydrographic and oceanographic instruments and techniques. He significantly improved 

 Thomson's wire sounding machine and developed a wire cleaning attachment that eliminated the 

 necessity of frequent washing of sounding wire in lime water. He developed a multiple container 

 that took simultaneous water samples and temperatures, automatically registering the results. He 

 also devised a clam-bucket type bottom sampler which made more certain the recovery of bottom 

 specimens. Commander Sigsbee's next tour of duty was as commanding officer of the battleship 

 Maine which blew up in Havana Harbor and precipitated the Spanish-American War. 



Throughout most of the 19th century, the Navy, the Coast and Geodetic Survey (whose 

 name was changed from Coast Survey in 1878) and the Smithsonian Institution (founded in 1846 

 and the only government agency at that time with a charter permitting it to conduct basic 

 research) encouraged civilian scientists to accompany government sponsored expeditions, since few 

 scientists were then available in government to provide this support. 



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