AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING THE DEPTH OF WATER AND THE COMPRESSION OF LIQUIDS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING
THE DEPTH OF WATER AND THE COMPRESSION OF LIQUIDS."-A communi-
cation from abroad by Sidney Edwards Morse, and Gilbert Livingston
Morse, both of Harrison, in the State of New Jersey, United States of
America.
Sealed the 6th October 1866, and dated the 17th May 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th May 1866.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND INSTRU-
.MENT FOR MEASURING THE DEPTH OF WATER AND THE COMPRESSION OF LIQUIDS,"
to be as follows:-
It has been found difficult by means of a line to. ascertain the true depth
of rivers and other bodies of water in motion on account of the currents

page_text: causing deviation of the line from perpendicularity, and in sounding deep seas
and oceans much time is consumed on account of the retardation of the line
by friction, both in ascending and descending. This Invention obviates these
difficulties, and it consists in general terms in measuring the depth of water
by the compression of a fluid or fluids contained in a vessel sunk by a weight,
which is automatically detached from the rest of the apparatus on striking
bottom, allowing the vessel and its other accompaniments to be raised by a
buoy, the apparatus being sunk without any connection with a line, and the
buoy being provided with a signal to enable the operator to discover it when
it ascends to the surface of the water.
In carrying out this Invention, take a glass bottle, say, about five or six
inches long, and of such interior diameter that its capacity, exclusive of any
solid substance and of the mercury and air it may contain, shall be about five
cubic inches; take also a glass meter tube about seven or eight inches long,
open at both ends, with a bore of about one-fifth of an inch in diameter; let
this tube be swelled near the upper end and the swelled part ground into a
stopper to fit the neck of the bottle; pour into the bottle mercury to a level
with the lower orifice of the meter tube and enough more to fill the meter
tube once; then fill the bottle with water and insert the meter tube so that
the swelled part or ground glass stopper shall be fitted perfectly tight into the
neck of the bottle; take then a thin india-rubber tube five or six inches
long and draw it over the outer end of the meter tube and fasten it by winding
a cord around it; fill the rubber tube with water and insert a plug about
half an inch long into its upper end and fasten it by winding and tying a cord
around the tube; it will then form a bag of water, and it should be long
enough to hold a quantity of water at least sufficient to fill the meter tube
once. A scale is to be adapted to the meter tube. When the instrument is
ready for operation the water or lighter fluid will completely fill the meter
tube. If the instrument is now sunk in deep water the external pressure of
the water as it descends will cause the fluids in the india-rubber bag, the
meter tube, and the body of the vessel to contract, and will force the water in
the meter tube through the mercury into the body of the vessel to supply the
On the return of
vacancy caused there by the compression of its contents.
the instrument to the surface the expansion of the fluid or fluids in the. body
of the vessel under the relaxation of the external pressure during. the ascent
will force the mercury into the meter tube to the amount of their greatest
compression, thereby indicating the degree of that compression and by
inference the depth to which the instrument has descended. The instrument
is rendered more sensitive and more applicable for measuring depths: not

page_text: exceeding 500 feet by the introduction of a minute quantity of air or
other elastic fluid into the vessel containing the liquids. The liquids can
easily pass each other in the bore of the meter tube, thereby enabling the
operator to restore them to their original position for a new operation merely
by turning the instrument. A bag of india-rubber or other suitable flexible
material is attached to the outer end of the meter tube for the purpose of
preserving the exact quantities of the fluids in the vessel as at first adjusted
and of enabling, the operator by pressure upon the bag to discharge the
contents of the meter tube into the vessel, and therefore to use a meter tube
of small bore. A buoy and weight is attached to the instrument by any
suitable self-detaching device, so that when the instrument or its appendage
touches the bottom the weight shall be detached and allow the buoy to carry
the instrument to the surface, thereby dispensing with a line. The submerged
buoy is released by causing a small weight attached to the long arm of a lever
to support on the short arm the larger weight, which sinks the buoy till the
smaller weight by touching the bottom is supported thereon, thus causing the
short arm no longer counterpoised to fall and discharge the greater weight.
A rod or pole is attached to the instrument, so that on its return to the
surface of the water it will attract attention at a distance, so as to facilitate
the recovery of the apparatus of which it forms a part.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th November 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the. County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Ierself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should aud

page_text: lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING THE DEPTH
OF WATER AND THE COMPRESSION OF LIQUIDS," being a communication to me.
from abroad by Sidney Edwards Morse and Gilbert Livingstone Morse, both
of Harrison, New Jersey, United States of America, upon the condition:
(amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors.
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or, one;
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the,
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office.
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
It has been found difficult to ascertain by means of a line the true depth of
rivers and other bodies of water in motion on account of the currents, causing
deviation of the line from perpendicularity, and in sounding deep seas and
oceans much time is consumed on account of the retardation of the line by
friction both in ascending and descending. The present Invention obviates
these difficulties, and it consists in general terms in measuring the depth of
water by the compression of a fluid or fluids contained in a vessel sunk by a
weight which is automatically detached from the rest of the apparatus on
striking the bottom, thereby allowing the vessel and its other accompaniments
to be raised by a buoy. The sounding apparatus is sunk without any line and
the buoy is provided with a signal to enable the operator to discover it when
it ascends to the surface of the water.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of
an apparatus (made according to this Invention) as it appears when descend-
ing or sinking; Fig. 2 is an elevation representing it after its descent and
when it has again reached the surface of the water.
In carrying out this Invention take a glass bottle, say, about five or six
inches long, and of such interior diameter that its capacity, exclusive of any solid
substance and of the mercury and air it may contain shall, be about five cubic
inches. It should be shaped as in the accompanying Drawing, where it is
marked A. Take also a glass meter tube B, about 7 or 8 inches long, open

page_text: at both ends, with a bore of such diameter that the capacity of the tube shall
be one quarter of a cubic inch (that is to say) a bore about one-fifth of an
inch in diameter; let this tube be swelled near the upper end and the swelled
part ground into a stopper to fit the neck of the bottle when the lower orifice
of the tube is within about an eighth of an inch from the bottom of the bottle;
pour into the bottle mercury just sufficient to be on a level with the lower
orifice of the meter tube and enough more to fill the meter tube once; then
fill the bottle with water and insert the meter tube, so that the swelled part or
ground glass stopper shall be fitted perfectly tight into the neck of the bottle.
To secure the stopper in its place a frame of brass or other suitable material
C, C, with a circular hole in the upper side to permit the meter tube to pass
-through it may be put around the vessel and resting on a shoulder in the meter
tube formed by the top of the swelled or stopper part. It may be fastened
with a screw F which passing. through the middle of the lower side of the
brass band and pressing against the bottom of the vessel or some intervening
substance shall bind the stopper firmly in the neck of the vessel. Take then
a thin india-rubber tube five or six inches long and of such diameter that
when opened it can be drawn easily but closely for about half an inch over
:the outer end of the meter tube'; draw it over and fasten it by winding a cord
around it, which shall force the india-rubber into circular grooves ground in
the glass; fill the rubber tube with water and insert a plug about half an
inch long into its upper end, and fasten it by winding.and tying a cord around
the tube; it will then form a bag of water and it should be long enough to
hold a quantity of water at least sufficient to fill the meter tube once. A
scale is to be made on the outside of the meter tube, either by etching the
glass or by attaching thereto marked paper varnished to protect it from water,
or the scale may be made on the inside on a rod extending from the bottom
of the bottle through the meter and india-rubber tubes and fastened as a
stopper in the mouth of the india-rubber tube in place of the plug described
above. When the instrument is ready for operation the water or lighter
fluid will completely fill the meter tube. If the instrument is now sunk in
deep water the external pressure of the water as the instrument descends will
_cause the fluids in the india-rubber bag, the meter tube, and the body of the
vessel to contract, and will force the water in the meter tube through the
mercury into the body of the vessel to supply the vacancy caused there by
the compression of its contents. On the return of the instrument to the
surface the expansion of the fluid or fluids in the body of the vessel under the
relaxation of the external pressure during the ascent will force the mercury
into the meter tube to the amount of their greatest compression, thereby

page_text: indicating the degree of that compression and by inference the depth to which
the instrument has descended.
50,000
It is known that "water submitted to a mechanical pressure of fifteen pounds
on a square inch is diminished in its volume by forty-five parts in a million," and
that the compression continues in this proportion as the pressure is increased.
Now as the pressure of a column of salt water thirty-four feet high is fifteen
pounds on a square inch a table can easily be made from these data to indicate the
amount of compression due to every depth of water from one foot or one inch
to the greatest depths of the ocean. At the depth of thirty-four thousand feet
the compression of sea water must be by this rule 45,000 millionths, and of the
depth of thirty-seven thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven feet, or a
little more than seven miles, the compression must be 1.888.88ths, or one-
twentieth part of its volume at the surface of the ocean. If, therefore, we
have a bathometer with a meter tube of one-twentieth part of the capacity of
the body of the vessel, e. g., if the meter tube (which we will suppose is of even
bore and seven inches long) have a capacity of one quarter of a cubic inch, and
there were five cubic inches of water in the body of the vessel above the
mercury, we could measure with such an instrument any depth of the ocean
not exceeding seven miles. Every inch of the scale of the meter tube would
represent almost precisely a mile of depth in the ocean, and if on the return
of the instrument to the surface the mercury should fill the tube it would
indicate that it had descended to the depth of seven miles. If great accuracy
should be deemed necessary in making the table to which we have referred
allowance must of course be made for the increased density and weight of the
water as you descend caused by compression, and this at the depth of seven
miles being one-twentieth the compression of thirty-four cubic inches
would be into 32-30 cubic inches, and of thirty-four linear inches into
about 33.43 linear inches. When corrected by this allowance the water
would be compressed one-twentieth of its volume at the depth of 37-777
minus 314 equal to 37-463, or seven miles and five hundred and three
feet. If still greater accuracy should be required allowance must be
made for the expansion of glass, water, and mercury by heat and their
contraction by cold. The best mode of graduating the bathometer will be by
sinking it with a graduated line in still water, after surrounding it with a
substance which will keep the bottle and its contents at some fixed tempera-
ture during the operation; as, for example, enclosing it in an india-rubber
bag or other vessel containing water and ice, which will keep it at thirty-two
degrees of Fahrenheit; if then it is surrounded in the same way while taking
a sounding no allowance will be needed for the expansion of air, glass, water,

page_text: and mercury by heat and their contraction by cold. To adapt the instrument
for measuring depths in comparatively shallow water, say depths of five
hundred feet or less, a small quantity of air should be introduced into the
bottle. If in the instrument described above a quantity of air, just enough
to fill four inches of the meter tube were added to the five cubic inches of
water in the bottle, the result would be about as follows:-
be so much compressed that in a bathometer constructed as described above the
mercury would on that account alone rise in the meter tube on the return of
the instrument to the surface from that depth about one-tenth of an inch;
this added to the 8 produced by the compression of the air would cause the
mercury to rise nearly to the four inch mark. To prevent the union of the
air with the water under the great pressure the air may be enclosed in a small
close india-rubber bag, and for still greater security this bag of air may be
inserted in a narrow tube of iron, glass, or other suitable material closed at
one end with the open end kept constantly under the surface of the mercury.
For greater depths than five hundred feet it will be best ordinarily to depend
on the compression of water or some other liquid alone, and if a scale of an
inch to a mile should be deemed inconveniently small, it could be altered even
while preserving the same capacity of bottle by lengthening the meter tube
and proportionately diminishing its bore. If, for example, the length of the
meter tube were twenty-eight inches instead of seven inches, and its bore so
reduced that its capacity should be still a quarter of a cubic inch, four inches
instead of one inch of the scale would indicate a mile, and so on. If, however,
the diameter of the bore should be reduced much below one-fifth of an inch
mercury and water would not readily pass each other to assume the position
due to their relative specific gravity, and on the return of the instrument to the
surface it might be necessary to unstop the bottle and press upon the india-
rubber bag to force the mercury from the meter tube into the bottle as a
preparation for a new operation. If, however, there be sufficient air in the
bottle the mercury may be discharged even from a very small bore without
unstopping the bottle merely by pressing the bag. The instrument should be
turned on its side before pressing upon the bag. If the meter tube be suffi-
ciently wide in the bore the adjustment of the instrument for a new operation

page_text: can be made without any pressure by simply turning the tube on its side and
.then restoring it to a perpendicular position.
To save time in deep sea soundings the use of the line may be dispensed
with entirely. Three or four hours are usualy required to take a single
sounding at the depth of two thousand fathoms with a line or wire in conse-
quence of the retardation by the friction of the water on so large a surface,
while a five-inch cannon ball would reach the bottom at this depth, and a five-
inch hollow glass sphere would rise to the surface from this depth, each in
much less time.
To cause this bathometer to descend and ascend rapidly in the deep sea an
apparatus constructed as follows is attached to it :-A hollow sphere of glass
B', about one-eighth of an inch thick and five inches interior diameter, is
attached by cords or fine wire to the bathometer; as represented in the accom-
panying Drawing. Such a sphere will buoy in water a weight of two pounds,
which is about one pound more than the weight of the bathometer and its
accompaniments as above described. Into the knob L on the lower side of
the brass frame C, C, is screwed a circular rod or tube of wood, brass, or
galvanized iron E, D, eight or ten inches long and one quarter of an inch
diameter, through which a slot is made near the top at E to receive the thin
flat lever P, Q; insert the lever so that the length E, Q, shall be ten times
the length of E, P, of the lever, and connect the rod and lever by a pin or
pivot on which they are free to vibrate; to the end of the long arm of the
lever at Qattach by a cord two or three feet long a body of lead S weighing
about one quarter of a pound; to the end of the short arm of the
lever attach a cord P, Z, W, about twelve or fourteen inches long having
a loop at. W; through a cylindrical hole in the bar or sinker of
cast iron R (which should weigh about a pound) pass the rod E, D,
and bring the loop W in the cord P, Z, W, over the end of the rod below
the sinker R; the weight S will then hold the weight R in its position on
the rod as represented in the Drawing; if now the bathometer with the
appendages be dropped in the sea it will sink till the weight S strikes the
bottom, and this weight being supported there the weight R will draw down the
short arm of the lever and cause the loop at the end of the cord P, Z, W, to
release itself from the rod E, D, the weight R will then drop into the sea;
. the buoy B¹ will then be free to ascend and carry the bathometer and all its
remaining appendages to the surface. If it should be deemed desirable to
.save the expense of the iron weight which is lost by this mode of releasing
the buoy, sand or other cheap weight may be used instead of iron by means of
an apparatus constructed as shewn at Fig. 3. To a cylindrical tin vessel R¹

page_text: (Fig. 3) about four inches in diameter, six inches high, and open at the top, is
soldered a stiff steel or iron wire D, E, F, G, about fifteen inches long,
bent near the top into a double right angle, and near the bottom into a single
right angle, as in the Drawing; the tin vessel is then fastened by soldering
or otherwise to the wire, so that the part E', F', which may be one and a half
inches long shall be directly under one of the radii of the bottom, and the
part E¹, D', shall pass vertically along the outside of the vessel, while the part
F¹, G., projects downwards from the bottom. H', I', is a strip of wood about
fourteen inches long, and into the centre of the upper end of this wood is fixed
a pulley K¹ about three-fourths of an inch in diameter, and in the middle of
the side of the strip of wood, about twelve inches below, another pulley M¹,
about one and a half inches in diameter is mounted, so that the faces and
grooves of the two wheels K' and M² shall be parallel and in the same plane.
A hole is bored into the outer end of any of the radii of the larger pulley at
a point equidistant from the two flat sides to the depth of a quarter of an
inch to receive the wire rod F¹, G', from the bottom of the tin vessel, and
which wire is fastened there by soldering or otherwise. To one end of a cord
about three feet long is attached a half pound weight N¹. The cord passes
through iron wire eyes E", E", on the back of the strip of wood H', I', and
over the pulley K¹. At the upper end of the cord is a small ring O³, to which'
is suspended a two ounce weight Q. The ring O¹ is slipped over the bent
end of the wire at D' so as to hold the vessel upright. The vessel is filled
with sand or other cheap weight and the whole is attached to the bathometer
and buoy by screwing into the knob L in Fig. 1. A rod S¹ is fastened to the
top or upper end of the strip of wood H', 1', and the instrument is dropped
into the sea; it will sink as in the other instance until the weight N¹ strikes
the bottom. More than half the weight in the tin vessel being beyond the
pivot or vertical axis of the larger pulley M¹ will then fall and the two
ounce weight being then allowed to drop will draw the ring O³ from the end
of the wire rod at D', and the tin vessel will be completely upset and will
discharge the sand or other weight into the sea and leave the buoy to ascend
as before and carry the bathometer up to the surface of the water. To
facilitate the finding of the instrument on its return to the surface a long light
rod or pole X is. inserted in a socket U fastened on the upper side of the buoy
by wires that pass round it in various directions and protect the body of the
buoy and meet at the bottom, where they connect it with the bathometer and
its appendages. The upper end of this rod should be prepared with small
pieces of bright tin, polished, metal, silvered and colored glass, or other
substances which will reflect the light and attract attention from a distance. ⠀

page_text: Having now described the Invention, of an improved method of "An Instru-
ment for Measuring the Depth of Water, and the Compression of Liquids,"
as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents, and having explained
the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured
to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid,―
First, arranging fluids of different specific gravities in a vessel or vessels
as herein set forth, so that when sunk in water or submitted to pressure or
otherwise a mark of the amount of compression of one or more of these fluids
at the greatest depth or at the point of greatest compression is retained
for inspection on the return of the instrument to the surface of the water.
Second, the arrangement as herein set forth of two liquids having unequal
specific gravities with a meter tube in a vessel closed except at one end of the
meter.tube, so that external pressure caused by the descent of the instrument
in water or otherwise will force a portion of the lighter liquid through the
heavier liquid into the body of the vessel to supply the vacancy there made by
the compression of its contents, and then under a relaxation of the external
pressure caused by the ascent of the instrument in the water the expansion or
reaction of the liquids in the body of the vessel will force the heavier. liquid
into the meter tube to the amount of the compression, thus forming a meter
of the compression, and by inference of the greatest depth to which it has
descended as described.
Third, the introduction of a minute quantity of air or other elastic fluid
into the vessel containing the liquids so as to make the instrument sensitive as
a meter of depth in comparatively shallow water.
Fourth, the application to the bathometer of a meter tube so constructed
that the liquids can easily pass each other in the bore of the meter tube,
thereby enabling the operator to restore them to their original
position for a new operation merely by turning the instrument, substantially
as described.
Fifth, attaching a bag of india-rubber or other suitable flexible material to
the outer end of the meter tube for the purpose of preserving the exact
quantities of the fluids in the vessel as at first adjusted, and of enabling the
operator by pressure upon the bag to discharge the contents of the meter
tube into the vessel and therefore to use a meter tube of small bore as
described.
Sixth, attaching a buoy and weight to the instrument in such a way
that when the instrument or its appendage touches the bottom the weight
shall be detached and allow the buoy to carry the instrument to the surface
as described.

page_text: Seventh, the method herein set forth of releasing the submerged buoy by
causing a small weight attached to the long arm of a lever to support on
the short arm the larger weight which sinks the buoy till the smaller
weight by touching the bottom is supported thereon, thus causing the
short arm no longer counterpoised to fall and discharge the greater weight,
as described.
Eighth, attaching to the instrument a rod or pole as herein set forth, so
that on its return to the surface of the water it will attract attention at a
distance, and facilitate the recovery of the apparatus of which it forms a part,
as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (LS.)