A Treatise on Meteorological Instruments: Explanatory of Their Scientific Principles, Method of Construction, and Practical UtilityNegretti, Enrico Angelo Lodovico
Science
A Treatise on Meteorological Instruments: Explanatory of Their Scientific Principles, Method of Construction, and Practical Utility
Negretti, Enrico Angelo Lodovico
Meteorological instruments; Meteorology; Scientific apparatus and instruments
III. It can be carried in any position, and cannot possibly be put out of
order except by actual breakage of the instrument.
And lastly, it will indicate and record the exact temperature at any hour
of the day or night, or the exact temperature at any depth of the sea,
irrespective of either warm or cold currents, or stratum through which the
Thermometer may have to pass in its descent or ascent, this last very
special quality renders this Thermometer superior for deep-sea
temperatures to any others; for those now being used in the "Challenger"
sounding expedition are liable to give erroneous indications owing to
their indices slipping, and otherwise getting deranged--(This was proved
by Messrs. Negretti and Zambra at a Meeting of the British Meteorological
Society,) and _under certain conditions of temperature_ it is not possible
by the old Thermometers to obtain true temperatures at certain depths
which might be required. _Annexed is a copy of a report to the Admiralty
from Captain G. S. Nares, of H.M.S. "Challenger," dated Melbourne, March
25th, 1874, which we have taken from NATURE, July 30th, 1874, proving
the assertion._
"In the report to the Admiralty of Capt. G. S. Nares, of H.M.S.
_Challenger_ dated Melbourne, March 25, 1874, Capt. Nares, speaking of the
temperature of the ocean, especially near the pack edge of the ice,
says:--'At a short distance from the pack, the surface water rose to 32 deg.,
but at a depth of 40 fathoms we always found the temperature to be 29 deg.;
this continued to 300 fathoms, the depth in which most of the icebergs
float, after which there is a stratum of slightly warmer water of 33 deg. or
34 deg. As the thermometers had to pass through these two belts of water
before reaching the bottom, the indices registered those temperatures, and
it was impossible to obtain the exact temperature of the bottom whilst
near the ice, but the observations made in lower latitudes show that it is
about 31 deg. More exact results could not have been obtained even had Mr.
Siemens's apparatus been on board.' It seems to us that the difficulty
mentioned is one which would certainly have been surmounted by Messrs.
Negretti and Zambra's new Recording Thermometers, a description of which
appeared in NATURE, vol. ix. p. 387; this being exactly one of the cases
to which this instrument is peculiarly adapted. We believe the inventors
and makers have greatly improved their Thermometer since our description
appeared, and no doubt means will be taken by the Admiralty to transmit
one to the _Challenger_."
DESCRIPTION OF THE DEEP-SEA RECORDING THERMOMETER.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account