DEEP-SEA EXPLORATION. 
303 
THE USE OF WIRE FOR SOUNDING. 
The hrst recorded instance of wire having- been used for deep-sea sounding- was by 
the Wilkes Exploring Expedition, 1838-42. In 1849, Captain Barnett, II. B. M. S. 
Thunderer^ experimented with it, and during the same year Lieut. J. 0. Walsli, United 
States schooner Taney, attemi)ted to sound witli it iu the vicinity of tlie Bermudas. 
It failed in every instance from practically the same causes, although Wilkes was 
unfortunate in the selection of copper wire which was of such low tensde strength 
that little margin of safety remained. Barnett used iron wire of large size and 
suHicient strength, while Walsh was supplied with three sizes of steel wire, either of 
which Avould have proved successful under proper treatment. 
The i)rincix)al causes of failure were due to insufficient Aveight of sinkers and lack 
of proper control over the reel Avhen paying out, as evidenced by such time intervals 
as were recorded, which sIioav a more ra])id rate of descent than obtains in theliest 
modern practice Avith iierfected appliances and a proper relation of weight between 
the sinker and submerged Avire. These repeated failures brought Avire into such dis- 
repute that no further attempts were made to sound Avith it until Sir William Thomson 
commenced his experiments iu June, 1872, Avhich resulted in totally revolutionizing the 
art of deep-sea sounding. Commander (now Bear Admiral) George E. Belknap, U. S. S. 
Tnscarora, used pianoforte Avire successfully in 1873-74. Commander (iioav Commodore) 
J. C. HoAvell, United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Steamer Blal;e, adopted it later 
in the same year, and Lieut. Commander (moav Commander) C. 1). Sigsbee, succeeding 
to tlie command, used it Avith great success from 1874 to 1878, by A\diich time it had 
passed the experimental stage and been generally adopted for deep-sea Avork. 
Wire Avas hrst used by the United States Fish Commission on board tlie Fish 
Hawk, Lieut. Z. L. Tanner, U. S. N., on the Gth of August, 1880; then on board the 
Albatross, Lieut. Commander Z. L. Tanner, Avhich made her first sounding with Avire 
on March 22, 1883, and it has since been in constant and successful use on board 
vessels of the Fish Commission. 
Sir William Thomson used pianoforte Avire of No. 22 Birminghani wire gauge in 
his experiments and that size, or sizes closely approximating to it, have been univer- 
sally adopted for deep-sea sounding. 
The Avire in general use for that ])urpose ou board the Albatross is made by the 
Washburn & Moeu Manufacturing- Company, of Worcester, Mass., and called by them 
No. 11 music. It is 0.028 of an inch in diameter, weighs 13 xiounds x>er nautical mile 
of 1,000 fathoms in air, 11.3 iiounds in sea Avater, and axiproximates to No. 21 American 
gauge and No. 22 Birmingham Avire gauge. Its tensile strength is remarkably uniform, 
the mean of many tests giAing 207 pounds as the breaking strain ; it is highly [lolisheil 
and resists rust unusually Avell Avhen in use. It is furnished by the manufacturers 
in sealed tin cans, containing 50 pounds, or about 3,850 fathoms, in six coils 84 inches 
in diameter, each coil being comxiosed of two jiieces of wire. It will be furnished in 
any desired length, however, ou special order. 
The coils are doubled for xiackiug, one being laid on top of the other and carefully 
wrapixAed Avith the best oiled papier, a liberal sprinkling- of whiting, slacked lime, or 
other absorbent being- inclosed with the wire as a preservative against oxidation. 
The packages are xilaced one above the other in the can, a (piantity of whiting 
between them, and sealed air-tight; the wire is xiractically indestructible so long as 
it remains in the sealed can, and, if stored iu a dry place, Avill keej) quite AAmll in its 
jAaper wrapxiings after the can has been opened. 
