ocean's story. 



723 



weight, C, which now holds them apart, is removed. When 

 the bottom is reached, the scoops, open, are driven into the 



ground, the tension on the rope 

 ceases, the tumbler hooks open 

 and release the weight, which 

 falls on its side, and allows the 

 elastic ring to shut the scoops, 

 inclosing a portion of the bot- 

 tom in which they have been 

 forced. The trouble with this 

 apparatus is its complicated 

 character; pebbles may get in 

 the hinge and prevent the scoops 

 from closing. In all apparatus 

 to be used for such a purpose 

 the greater the simplicity the 

 better, and an invention, which 

 shall at once be simple and ef- 

 fective, capable of bringing up 

 a pound or two from the bot- 

 tom at a depth of 2,000 fathoms 

 or more, without tail, and with- 

 out too much trouble, is still a 

 desideratum, and its invention 

 is well worth the attention of 

 the ingenious. 



Another arrangement, called 

 the Hydra sounding machine, 

 is intended to bring up portions 

 of the bottom and water from 

 the lowest strata reached. It 

 consists of a strong brass tube, 

 which unscrews into four cham- 

 the bulldog souNDiNQ machine, bers, closed with valves, open- 



