ON A NEW CURRENT-METER. 187 



vals were dropped out of a hole in the upper end of the appa- 

 ratus, and allowed to fall freely upon a plate supported by the 

 compass-needle, and divided into cells after the pattern of honey- 

 comb. After the raising of the apparatus, the deviations to 

 various points of the compass, which the shot made on the way 

 down to the plate, are noted. There are indeed several possible 

 methods for similar arrangements. 



In conclusion, the author would state as his opinion that so 

 long as the permanent great currents in the sea, as in the case 

 here studied, are concealed by irregular movements with greater 

 velocities, we have not attained all that may be desirable when 

 the velocity and set of the average current has been deter- 

 mined. A knowledge of the magnitude of the more rapidly 

 changing movements would also be of very great importance 

 in several respects. A proper current-meter ought not there- 

 fore to give means, but, like Prof. Nansen's instrument, make 

 distinct, repeated determinations of velocity; and the principles 

 upon which this instrument is based should be the guiding prin- 

 ciples for future work in this all-important problem of thoroughly 

 investigating the movements of the water in the ocean. 



Trykt 28. mai 1901, 



