DEEP-SEA EXPLORATION. 
307 
Solfleriufi Jl Hid, fov use with soft solder, iifter Ihiswell’s receipt, has been suc.cess- 
fully used ou board tlie Alhatrosa, aud is considered the best ])reparat'on f(»r wire 
soldering. It is as follows: 
To two Ihlid ounces of muriatic acid, add small [doces of zinc until liiihMes cease to rise. Add 
half a teaspoonfull of sal auiinoniac and two Huid ounces of water. 
Pulverized renin maybe used in the absence of soldering tluid, but greater care 
will be required iii making the splice, and the results are liable to be unsatisfactory, 
particularly when splicing old wire. 
METHOD OP SPLICING WIRE TO STRAY LINE. 
In sounding with wire it is customary to splice about 5 fathoms of slack-laid cod- 
line to its working end to take up the slack that occurs when the sinker strikes 
bottom, and as a convenience for attaching the sounding rod, deep-sea thermometers, 
and auxiliary lead. This cord is known as the stray line and is attached to the wire 
in the following manner: 
At a iioint about 5 inches from one end of the stray line stick the wire twice 
against the lay, fig. 5, then jiass it with tlie lay from 4 to 0 inches, and again stick it 
twice against the lay. Cut the wire to the proper length, clap a seizing of waxed 
twine over the places where it was stuck against the lay, carefully covering the end 
of the wire to prevent its catching when reeling in. It now remains to complete 
the end of the splice: Put wire and stray line under moderate tension, lay the wire 
in the center of the line by passing the free end of the latter around it, put on a 
temporary seizing, trim the strands down to a point and serve over the taper ivith 
waxed twine. This makes a neat and secure si)lice which outlasts the stray line and 
reels in without danger of catching on guards or fairleader. 
Tanner’s link was devised by the writer as a simide method 
of quickly attaching wire and stray line in case cither should 
break while sounding, thereby saving the time required to inake 
the regular splice. It consists of a small brass link, through the 
socket of which the stray line is drawn and is held in place by a 
single wall knot, leaving the opposite end free for attaching the 
wire. A stray line fitted in this manner is adjusted in a moment 
by taking three turns of the wire around the link, and passing 
the end closely around its staiiding part half a dozen times, 
Attention will be required in reeling in to guard against the link 
fouling when it reaches the machine, but with ordinary care it 
may be used until such time as a regular splice can be made 
without loss of time. 
THE MEASURING REEL. 
diameter, the initial 
The service reel being 22.81) inches in 
layer of wire, 0.028 inch in diameter, equals one fathom to the 
turn, the next layer a trifle more, and so on, until with a full reel 
the error would be about 10 inches to the turn; and as the 
register indicates the turns only, a correction must be apiilied 
to its reading. In order to determine the amount of error 
is wound on the service reel by means of the measurin 
Cut 33. — Tlio Tauuer 
link. 
, the wire is measured as it 
reel (cut 34), which is made 
