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but the Brooke apparatus seemed to find the most favour, and from that time forward, 1854, that apparatus, or modifications of it, or machines based upon the principle of getting rid of the sinker, have been used in all services making deep sea explorations. On this head Prof. Austed, in his “Geological Gossip” says, “We have to thank our brethren from the other side of the Atlantic for a number of trials and experiments, with various modifications of the old sounding-line, and also for the introduction of a simple and efficacious contrivance for overcoming the difficulty. Brooke’s sounding apparatus, slightly modified in matter of detail, is now generally employed, with the greatest success, to obtain proofs not only of the depth, but of the nature of the bottom of ocean.” In the English service the “Bull-dog,” the “Fitzgerald,” and “Hydra” machines, have been mostly used, the latter being the favourite, and which is now in use on board H. M. S. Challenger.
It was about this time too, that Mr. Massey, an English inventor, devised his sounding machine, which was a contrivance of cogwheels turned by the action of the water on a screw.
The machine was attached to the line above the lead, and in descending, the revolutions of the screw gave motion to the cogwheels, which registered the number of fathoms corresponding to the number of fathoms reached. This machine was a good step in advance, but owing to the enormous pressure of the water at great depths, which seemed to effect the perfect working of the wheels, the results were not so reliable as at first glance would appear.
These inventions happened just at the “nick of time,” for the first Atlantic cable was then in contemplation, and the U. S. steamer Active, the first steamer used in making deep-sea soundings, was fitted out with every appliance, including a steam-reel, which experience suggested up to that time, and was placed under the command of Lieut. O. H. Berryman for the purpose of sounding out a route for the proposed cable. The line was run, both the Brooke and Massey apparatus being used, and many good
