of Edinburgh, Session 1884-85. 
33 
On board the “ Medusa,” the steam-yacht of the Marine Station, 
the water-bottle is attached to the sounding line, which is wound 
on a drum worked by a small deck engine. The line passes from 
the drum through leading blocks to the derrick, which is fixed so 
as to project over the port bow, and when a sample of water is to 
be obtained from the bottom or an intermediate depth, the water- 
bottle has a 7-lb. lead attached to it, the stopcock is closed, and a 
little plug screwed in to prevent the entrance of mud should it 
strike the bottom. It is then lowered, the slip cylinder B being 
held in the hand. When the desired depth is reached the slip is 
let go, it crashes down on the frame, and is guided by the brass 
strips c, c on to the india-rubber ring, enclosing a sample of water. 
A number of trials showed that when the slip came down it did 
not press sufficiently strongly on the india-rubber. To remedy 
this a heavy leaden ring was fixed to the slip, but the result 
was that the edge struck the dome d so heavily that it was in- 
dented, and so left a little channel between the rim and the india- 
rubber. Subsequently it has been the habit, after the slip has 
struck the body, to let down one or two of Captain Bung’s brass 
weights (/, /, fig. 2). These rest on the top of the slip cylinder, 
and press it firmly down. Repeated trial and continuous use for 
several months have shown this manner of water-collecting to be 
satisfactory. 
When the water-bottle is hove up, the mud-plug is withdrawn, 
about a quarter of a litre of the water is run out into a bottle which 
is rinsed out with it, and then filled to overflowing, the stopper in- 
serted, and tied down. 
The bottles used are glass-stoppered, blue glass, half- Winchesters, 
which hold about 1 -5 litre. They are packed in boxes, fifteen in 
each, so as to be carried easily and safely. Each bottle is labelled 
as it is put aside, with particulars of the date, hour, and tempera- 
ture. 
The temperature below the surface is ascertained by means of 
the Eegretti and Zambra thermometer in the Scottish frame, which 
was described to this Society in July 1884 ( Proc . Roy. Soc. Edin ., 
xii. 928). The frame has been improved by using a small vice 
arrangement to clamp the line at the upper end, while a cork-screw- 
shaped attachment at the foot keeps the line alongside the frame. 
VOL. XIII. 
0 
