The Winslow mail., 1898-07-23
SUBMARINE PHOTOS.
Pictures Have Been Taken Success
fully Under Water.
Artificial Light Can Be Enployed-
Great Benefits lEay BE Obtained
ia the Examination OF
sysnI1en wrecks.

The extent Of The surface Of the earth
covered by water is vast, since il by far
surpasses that Of the dry land. What
do We know of this part Of the globe
hiGden by the seas and oceans? Very
little, it must beadmitted Except along
tie imiuediate edge Of these immense
bowls which can be explored in diving
bells, the means which natur&iists have
at their disposal for the examination
of these depths are most rudimentary.
Nobody can go down into them, as the
trenenCous pressure of the water rem
dcrs this impossible. For a long time,
therefore, it was imagined that the
bottom CT the sea was one vast extent
III mud, without the presence Of living
things; but numerous scientific ezpeci-
lions finally proved that such was net
the ease, and that multitude OF curl
Gus and even fantastic animals were
to be found there.
The product cf even a single catch,
including many sharks, as made by US
at the Arago laboratory, convinced me
chat at the depth Of 500 meters the bot
tom Of the ocean is full Of life. All these
big sharks (Centrophorus ganulosus)
are carniyorous. In order to live these
animals must eat other animals; so
there must be many other animals
whence these come, although we know
almost nothing about them.
As regards the sea, the naturalist is
in the same situation as would be an in
habitant Of the moon who could live in
,he ethereal space, but could not breathe
the air which envelcps cur earth. Let
as suppose that this voyager from the
ethereal regions should come in contact
with our atmosphere. He would float
above the highest strata without being
able to penetrate them, separated from
the earth by the gases which surround
it. What must he do if he wishes to
know something Of what exists below
the layers Of cloud which hide our globe
from his view? He would do as our
naturalists have done = construct
dredges and nets, and, having weighted
them, would let them down like the
anchor Of a balloon, and try to pull them
along the surface CT the earth. Do you
think that with such primitive instru-
ments he would obtain very precise
ideas OF the terrestrial globe? Every
agile animal would flee before the APP
paratus, which, if it did not get ire
trievably caught in some oak, rock or
lofty factory chimney, might bring
back, after having scraped for same
time along the surface OF the earth, bits
Of leaves, pebbles mingled with soil,
etc, al Of which, however, could give
only very vague idea concerning the
constitution of the globe.
Up to the present time our natural
lists have done hardly more than this.
Though it is quite true that the appa-
ratus used is as perfect as possible,
and that the most illustrious students
of nature have displayed in their la bors
an ingenuity which | should never
dream Of calling into question, at the
bottom the proceeding is the same in
both cases. They drag the rudimentary
instruments blindly through the depths
Of the seas.
What a change will come over the sit
uation the rloment it becomes possi-
bic to let down to the bottom of the
ocean a Photographic apparatus provid-
cd with a powerful artificial light! Al
though this camera will not be able to
bring back pictures Of wide extent, may
it not succeed il satisfactorily photo
graphing 100 square meters Of space?
And VIII not such photographs contain
a most precious fund of information
I71-o7,v-f !, ,:7,c~ loo - IL l>o1.ox-o
it VIII soon be possible to construct
Photographic apparatus which will ac-
co1plish its work successfully at any
depth CT water But without going so
far as this, and without launching
forth into the hypotheses which have
not yet been realized, it may be assert
ed that submarine photography can al
ready produce useful results.
IN the immediate vicinity of the
coasts the photograp phing Of landscapes,
the interiors OF grottces, animals
caught in their medium, furnishes the
student useful and precious informa-
tion; and from an industrial point CT
view one may see how it can be EN-
ployed practically. Suppose, for in
stance, a rhip to be at the bottom Of
the sea. How are we to know its exact
position, and to determine the extent Of
the damage which it has suffered? A
coed submarine photograph would be
more valuable to the engineers than all
the Information which divers could fur
nish.-Prof. Louis Poutan. in Century.
Solar Facts ana Figures.