Year: 1869

| AT meeting OF the New-YOrk Association


for the Advancement Of Science and Art held last


ing in Room No Is Cooper Institute the President Dr.


Prime, In the chair, Mr. Livingston Morse. Of the


weknown Sidney L. Morse exhibited aud explained n
recently invented instrument called the Bathometer


intended for obtaining deep sOundlngs This appara


tus consists in brief Of tnbe cylinder Of wood or tin
about six inches I'm diameter, and several length
ing according the locality In which IL designed 20 be
used Within this outer are inclosed n number Of
hollow spheres OF glass, hhed with air at
the ordinary atmospheric pressure. These globes
Of glass serve as floats or bIeys, and one of the most
valuable points OF the invention y the discovery by the
Messrs Morse that these glass spheres only about one
tenth OF an inch in thickness Will endure pressure equal
to that OF the at several miles DEPTH without break
injury. Some Of the spheres exhibited last even
ing had endured pressure OF four ana IaI tus 10
the square inch under hydraulic press, without Ialng
The latter with its inclOsed spheres Is baasted so as 10


float upright in the water and to It's owerend Attached
weight sufficient to carry 1t rapidly 10 .Ie the
that the instant 1t touches bottom IL becomes detached
from It, and the tube by the buOyancy Of its incosed
scent and ascent always equal and the rate OF the


Instruments motion through the water is ascertalned by


l. beneath the surface affords pretty accurate
Of the depth to which reached But the inventors do
distance TO the bottom The apparatus far is merely


the carriage for conveying to the bottom OF the sea and re-


turning the surface another piece Of mechanism which


shall accurately report the distance traveledor rather
the depth attained This register consists OF glass
sci filed with distilled water and closed with stopper OF
india rubber or gua pefcha. Attached To this vessel
an India rubber bag ilcd with mercury which commu.
nicates with the water vessel by means OF small tube
The pressure Of the at great depth congresses
the IN the vessel and certain amount of mercury
flows Ia 10 I'll the vacancy thus caused The
quantity Of mercury found in the vessel after
its return to the surface shows tho extent OF
the compression OF the water in the vessel,
and the compression OF the water IL always Uniform
this exact and trustworthy OF the pres
Of the water at the point when the weight becomes
detached from the tube In addition TO this Maurys
any other sefregstering bathOmeter may be attached
20 the apparatus thus giving at single descent these
cOrrObOratng registrations OF the depth The instrument
also IN its return brings up specimen OF the bottom OF
the the point where 1t struck. IL Is well known
that the old method OF sounding by line and sinker
has proved totally untrustwOrthy for great depths
the disturbances Of the line by currents and the mo-
OF the vessel rendered the results obtained wholly
uncertain, and Prof Maury who has probably had
experience this business than any other man,
makes all his sOundIngs OF mile in depth doubt
ful The Morse machine being entirely automatic in It's
action and being entirely disconnected from the vessel
not liable 10 these objections and its action being very
rapid is not liable to be much affected by submarine
rents BY the old method from six hours are
required make sounding OF 1900 fathOms, while
the IMessrs Morse estimate from experiments made by
them that their instrument will descend 10 that depth
and within thirty minutes. Should the Bath
Ometer succeed In accomplishing all that Is expected OF
t-and there exists apparent reason why II should
nOt-t will prove the most valuable adjunct TO science
the invention Of the microscope At the close OF Mr.
MOrse's explanation, unanimous vote OF thanks was
given him by the Society for his interesting paper and


resolution adopted highly approving the invention and
recommending It's adoption by the United States Govern
ment