non-metallic wrapping without. Whether the insulating material be gutta-percha, india-rubber, or other matter, it requires to be protected from chafes and bruises while on board, and when it is being payed out."
All of his suggestions were finally, after two disastrous failures, carried into effect. He was consulted by Cyrus W. Field and others as to the kind of cable to be used, the manner of laying it, and the best time of the year in which to lay it.[1]
At a dinner given in New York in 1858, to celebrate the arrival of the first message across the Atlantic, when called upon to give an account of the work, Mr. Field rose and said,—"I am a man of few words: Maury furnished the brains, England gave the money, and I did the work."[2] And yet these important services were not only unrequited, but are to this day to a large extent unknown.
As Admiral FitzRoy, an eminent savant of the British Navy, said of Maury, "one of his most distinguished traits was personal disinterestedness." It was frequently remarked of him through life, that he never sought to benefit himself by his arduous labours, or to make pecuniary profit out of his researches. His sole object was to benefit mankind at large.
His nephew (General D. H. Maury), in speaking of this marked trait says:—"I recall an illustration in point. When placed in charge of the Observatory his pay was small, and he had no other means than his salary. He was then fairly launched upon his career as a writer on subjects of national utility. Some papers of his, upon the advantages of a route to the East, by way of the Isthmus, attracted much attention. I was with him one morning when he opened his mail. He handed me to read a letter from a Northern firm, enclosing a cheque for $500, in token of approbation of his views, which were strongly promotive of the interests of their business.
