DEEP-SEA EXPLORATION. 
315 
vessel under lieadway, as is customary iu modern practice, ft is swung to one side 
out of the way when not retpiired for use, and when taking serial temperatures fair- 
leader and pulley are removed from the machine. A steel rod, or handle, projects 
from the trame over the pulley m for convenience in swinging it back and lorth to the 
desired angle. 
The brace n is an iron rod connected to the head of the tubes i and to a strut of 
cast steel on the inboard end of the frame a; it is operated by a turn-buckle, through 
which its length is increased, thus forcing the head of the tubes forward and pressing 
the frame h down firmly on the oak bedplate b, where they are held in position when 
the machine is rigged for service. 
The guys o are of flexible wire rope, with sister hooks in their upper ends 
which hook into eyes on the tie-frame, and screwbolts at the opposite ends, passing 
through holes at the outer extremities of a pair of outriggers of cast steel, which i>ivot 
on the end of the frame h. The guys being properly set up, support the accumulator 
laterally. 
The reel p is of cast steel and known as the “navy reel.” It is cast in one piece 
with 12 light-ribbed spokes; the drum is 22.89 inches in diameter, equal to a fathom in 
circumference, less 0.028 of an inch, the diameter of sounding wiie, hence the initial 
turns are a fathom each; the face of the drum is 3^- inches wide and the reel will carry 
about 6,000 fathoms of wire. The weight of the navy reel is about 160 pounds. The 
V-shaped friction groove, common to all sounding reels, projects from the right flange 
and is cast with it; the drum, flanges, and friction groove, are lathe-finished. 
The shaft, or axle, is of steel; the ends are squared for the reception of cranks 
and the reel is held in i^lace by a key, which can be readily backed out; there is a 
ratchet wheel on the left of the reel, and a worm wheel on its right, into which the 
register t is geared. Both the ratchet and worm wheels are keyed on tlie shaft. 
The navy reel is the only one that has been thoroughly reliable under all condi- 
tions of service on board United States vessels, and is to be preferred on that account, 
notwithstanding its great weight, which is really of little moment when used with 
the carefully adjusted accumulator of the Sigsbee machine. A little closer attention 
to the friction roiie is all that is required on the part of the operator to overcome the 
effect of increased inertia. 
Experiments were made on board the Albatross with ingeniously devised and 
carefully constructed built-up reels, under the imiu’ession that it was vitally necessary 
to keep the weight down; weaknesses were developed when working in great depths 
and the parts strengthened until the reel increased from 90 to 150 pounds iu weight; 
it failed even then under a crushing strain of about 300 tons. 
The friction rope is of 18-thread manila, 2 fathoms in length, witli an eye spliced 
in the standing part. To reeve it for sounding, slip the eye over its cleat on the bed- 
plate a, lead the hauling part under the reel, then over it and through the V friction 
groove; the operator stands forward of the machine, facing it, with the friction line in 
one hand, and with the other steadying himself in rough weather, which he can do 
without distracting his attention or interfering with the delicate manipulation of the 
friction rope, u))on which successful sounding so largely depends. He can stop the 
reel imomptly by a moderate pull on the line with one hand, and a further advantage 
gained by this direct method of running it is that the accumulator is left entirely free 
to indicate the rapidly varying tension on the sounding wire, which it does with marked 
