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7, Recent frnjiroci'Dioit in ApjnirntuA uml Methmls j't S'luihliiij Ocean 

 Jh-ptlis. Ihj Jlciif-Adiuiiii! j)anu;i, A.mmf.n, U.S. Savij. 



The fiutlior, after brlofly noticing' the advances made by Rprryinan, Bruoke, 

 Sandf* and nilicrs, in dccp-sua soinidin^ aiiiiarutns, jiinci-i'ds fo tlic s(Hindinf,'s, by 

 Sii' W. Tlioinson, in the JJay of IJiscay in 1.-7-, at a dcjith of i',7(K) fathoms. 11.' 

 u-cd iiianoforto wire, ]'.irniinf:ham ;.'an^'o lii', wfjnhin^' \\\ lbs. to tho nautical 

 inih", tapablo of bcarin;.' a strain of I'.'id lbs. His dynaninnicttT, had lliroo mih'n 

 in li'iiL'tli of tills wire bi'cii wound u]tiin the drnni, wnultl ha\c been still so 

 jiiirtalili' I hat one man could have carriid it with fasc 



llaily in ly7'"» tho Navy nopartniont was prrparin^' to make cxti'iidcdsoundiiifrs 

 ill till' I'acilic Oci'an. The ( 'hief id' Ibiroaii id' navifration, cliarj.'cd with the 

 .xiciilion of this work, askod tlio adviro and as>istuncc of Sir William 'rhomson. 

 lie was ^'ood oniiuij:li to ordor wire and such apjiaratus as his juTsonal cxporiciico 

 >iicri.ri.sliil, and to solid cand'iillv propari'il in>tni(tiiiiis for t lli'ctin;,' the object in 

 M.'W ; in short, he did everything' within his jiower to make tlio use of his 

 apparatus successful. The substitution of it and its cH'ective manipulation liy 

 Captaiii Hidknnp, I'.S.X., marked an era of ]prof:re«s in deep sonndiii},' and in 

 ])os.«ihilities of obtaiiiiiifir true ocean depths, as truly as did the sfoaniship inarlj an 

 iidvanre in traversinji' wide and stiuiuy seas with celerity and certainty. At that 

 time Belknap comniaiided the ' Tusearora," and until the smindin;^' apparatus was 

 ociit, had only the littinp's that belonj^' to vessels of war. Not wit list andiiiff those 

 (li>advaiitaires, the results obtained were eminently satisfactory. l'"or sjiecille 

 inforniatioii reference may be made to No. At id' the Hydro;:raphic ( )flice pnlilica- 

 tinns, ciilitled ' I)ee]i— ea Soundings in tlie N<>rlh I'aiilic Ocean,' 1^74. 



In deidlis of i',ri()() fathoms l<elkna}> found it necessary to make sevenil 

 additional revolutions of the drum by hand, on the sinker striking the bottom, to 

 prevent jerk's and strains on the wire wdiich otherwise would have occurred from 

 tlie rolling of the ship. This necessity wasdneto the almost instantaneous ceasing 

 of the drum to revolve on the sinker touehing the liottmii. lie reported bis 

 soundings at this depth as ])robably more accurate than iiiany casts in depths of 

 100 I'atlionis with an ordinary lead and line. He added: ' I e.vpect to accomplish 

 all the work with it (Sir William Thomson's apjiaratus) which the Department has 

 assigned me, ami if I succeed, no greater compliment couhl be paid to the genius 

 of the inventor.' 



I'he winding up of miles of wire on a light drum gave a cumulative pressure on 

 the original ajiparatus in deep soundings, such as to niaki- a continuous system of 

 nqiiiir necessary, and iinally the substitution of steel drums in the Naval service. 



To fully appreciate the advance made through the use of this apparatus, it is 

 iiece.ssary to Ijear in mind the tons of rope ref[uired to reach dejiths of four or five 

 miles, and its rapid deterioration from use, the cumbrous ajiparatus, the slowness 

 of the process even under the most favourable conditions, and wdiat is of greater 

 import, the uncertainty as to the actual depth sounded, arising in part from the 

 uiider-cnrrpnts of the ocean carrying great Inghts of rope in one or more directions, 

 aud in part from the very small proportion the weight of the sinker must Iwar 

 to the hemp line, liiit in a more marked degree from the 'stretch' of the rope 

 under tension, and the gradual shortening of it as soon as the s-iiiker reached the 

 liottom. 



The report of the Secretary of the Xavy for lf*74, p. G], di.scusses the advantages 

 gained by the use of wire as fdlows : the small amount of weight and spact^ 

 required for the apparatus; the large weight of the sinker relatively with the 

 weight of the wire necessary, even in .sounding the greatest depths, and the very 

 little surface friction of wire in its descent. Miles of wire have very little 'stretch ' 

 at ordinary tension, and heinji line a great deal, from wdiich in the first case the 

 indications of the dynamometer would be almost instantaneous, and in the .second 

 would Ije obscure and quite uncertain as to the exact depth and moment w hen the 

 sinker reached the bottom. Otl.er advantages are : the ease with which the wire 

 is preserved from deterioration. It stated further: 'The problem of measuring 



