WAVES, AND THE USB OF OIL. 653 



estimated some storm Waves to be 70 feet in height. In June, 1875, 

 the steamer Celtic was also stated to have encountered Waves 70 ft. high. 



The rate of speed of Waves has been estimated at 19 miles an hour 

 when they are 100 ft. apart from crest to crest, 27 miles when 400 ft., 

 32 miles when 600 ft., and, with a phenomenal distance apart of 2,720 ft., 

 the speed was 72 miles an hour. Dr. Schott (see page 925), in a voyage 

 from Europe to the East, found that a moderate Trade Wind causes 

 Waves from 38 to 44 ft. apart, travelling 17 miles an hour. He found 

 that big storm Waves may be 220 ft. apart, and travel 40 miles an hour ; 

 the highest one measured was 32 feet. 



The highest Waves are reported as being encountered in the Southern 

 Ocean, off the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn, where they sometimes 

 run from 30 to 40 ft. high. 



From personal observation, on a voyage from New Zealand round Cape 

 Horn, in June, 1885, in the steamer Tongariro, the Hon. E. Aber- 

 cromby, F.R.M.S., measured Waves from 21 to 46 ft. high, and many 

 reached 30 to 35 ft.; their distance apart varied from 358 to 507 ft., their 

 speed 29 to 47 miles an hour, and the time interval between the crests 

 14 to 19 seconds.* He gives the following summary : — Several sets of 

 observations between New Zealand and Cape Horn, with an aneroid 

 barometer and a chronograph, gave for the largest Waves a height of 

 46 ft., a length (or distance apart) of 765 ft., a speed of 47 miles an hour, 

 and a time-period of 16^ seconds. As nothing but the ordinary heavy, 

 weather of these latitudes was experienced, it is certain that Waves must 

 sometimes attain a height of at least 60 feet.f 



ON THE USE OF OIL FOR CALMING ROUGH SEAS 



The action of Oil in calming heavy seas appears to have been known 

 in the early days of navigation. That it was known to the ancients, is 

 proved by the writings of Pliny (a.d. 23 — 79), who speaks of it in his 

 " Natural History." The Venerable Bede, too, in his " Ecclesiastical 

 History" (a.d. 716 — 731), tells of the deliverance of a ship from a stormy 

 sea, through the agency of a pot of Oil, which had been blessed by 

 Bishop Aidan. 



Strangely enough, it is only within the last few years, that the great 

 value of greasy compounds, in quieting heavy seas, has come to be fully 

 acknowledged, and the following account has been derived from many 

 sources, but mainly from records appearing on the valuable "Pilot Chart 

 for the North Atlantic Ocean," issued monthly by the United States 

 Hydrographic Office. 



The testimony as to the great value of the use of Oil for this purpose 



• " Seas and Skies in Many Latitudes," 1888. 



■} " Observations on the Height, Length, and Velocity of Ocean Waves," in the 

 " Philosophical Magazine," 1888, pages 263—269. 



