The Somerset reporter., 1894-06-14
TANNING THE OCEAN.
WONDERFUL POWER OIL EXERCISES
OVER THE ANGRY WAVE.
The Active Agent l. OIeic ieid. "a DiscoV-
cry Made by German Invest gators
Thin Layer of This Acid pa-sesses a To-
tcncy which Is simply Marvellous.

Tho effect Of oil i'll calming the sur
face e "a .toimv sea. IT,. sliginal dis
covcrv If which wa accidental. has of
Lar, been the subject Of scientific inycs-
tiaatiun. and it is now possible 10
chuo,c such oils as are list suited for
the purpose. aud also 10 POINT out the
source Of their peculiar liver over the
waves. The statistics collected at the
hvdrreraphic office of tie bureau Of
navigation chow, by tha reports Of sea
captains themselves, thai many a vessel
has been saved rot only firm serious in
Jury. lgt from founderia- hy the use
# a fo,, gallons Of oil slowly tricklod
il.to the sea. The infiueA=a # the oil l.
Frequently described in -leh report, a.
wonderful, magical and almost incredi-
BIZ.
T. +. not difficult to So upon what
tins calming effect Of 81 depends, al
though the complete eXi laation Of il
ii,,.lycs "A uathomatical ~ loss Of dem
u-t.riou. Theoil act, la thin skin
drawn over the water. + istiug the
top,lrrcv Of the latter . break into
spray under the force 81 liz wind The
danger toa ship from ,tafa waves arises
FIR Ia tEcl,rcalingo Of thoe.5Fes As long
"a, th,ir surfaces are ssa# ath and their
crs-ts unbrokcn the VI rides them
az ilv and safely Bat via they break.
ard secondary waves az formed, il is
,Dltc.o.h,rwlsr. Then48# snip plunges
ia;1 the foaming walls ulr#Hed around
il. with frame racking shaeh-, immense
ma scs Of wat thunder down upon its
deck. sweeuin, eyelytHins clean, and
sometimes c,ou the str6nssst hulls and
the best sea- lanship ar unable to pre-
vail in the contest Til. Is the danger
that the suroalirH. Of oil slHer the waves
removes
Al first .i.lst il seems almost impo..
sillr that thin oily fila resting On
the tremendous sea wayos could exercise
controlling influence over them. The
display Of rcsistless ENERGY nude by the
breaking waves is so imposing and ter
rife that ore might Vell believe no
power lbs gigantic than their own
could Withstand them. The effect Of
the oil resembles that Of the apparently
insignificant force Of chemical cumbina-
ton holding in restrain tie explosive
energy Of guupOwdcr
1t is to German investigators that we
owe the discovery Of the active agent
which enables oil to exercise its calm
ing effect upon the set THIS agent is
olcic acid, IN ingredient found in lard,
olive oil and many Other oils. Those
oils that possess the largest proportion
Of oleic acid are the most effective in
controlling the waves. It Is through its
gradual separation from the rest Of the
oil and its diffusion III the water that
olcic acid acts. When a dropof ell rests
upon water the oil hattcns out through
the effects Of it's own weight AT the
edge Of the flattencd DIX Of oil the olcic
acid tends most rapidly to dissolve in
the water, and the very act Of dissolv-
ing evolves energy which causes the oil
to spread still farther, thus keeping its
edges constantly in contact with water
that has not yet become charged with
olcic acid. This spr5 ming continues
with great rapidity until all OF the oleic
acid has been dissolved Sometimes the
layer thus formed does not exceed
twelve-milliunth of an inch i'll thickness!
1t would not be easy to explain, with
out entering into techilcalities, how the
forces involved III the dissolying action
just described result III resistance to
the rising of waves Mathematical con
siderations prove that such an effect eX'
lists, and it has been shown experiment
tally that oleic acid spreading over watel
is capable Of arrestiHg the progress OF
floating chips driven by the wind, and
even of forcing such chips to move
against the direction of the wind.
The power of wave is made up of
the combined energy Of all of the parti
Giles of water composing it, but every
particle at the surface of the wave is
opposed hy the force brought into play
by the oleic acid and thus the tendency
of the surface of the wave to break is
resisted OF course the formation of
the wave as whole cannot be prevent
ed by this mere surface resistance, but
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