Mr. Airy entered very warmly into the subject, as did also Professor Piazzi Smyth, the Astronomer Royal for Scotland; and a long and interesting correspondence passed between them and Mr. Brunel. Experiments were conducted, principally with the view of obtaining a stand for astronomical instruments by means of the contrivance known as the gyroscope, the principle of which had been already adopted by Mr. Brunel in a level designed by him in 1829. In connection with the observers’ department, Mr. Brunel paid much attention to designs of sounding apparatus and means for accurately measuring the speed of the ship. He also intended to have a stream of surface water constantly pumped up through the observers’ cabin, which should, by its change of temperature, immediately indicate the presence of icebergs, instead of the plan of an occasional bucketful being hauled up on to the deck according to the humour of the officer of the watch. Mr. Brunel made a very curious contrivance for enabling the man on the look-out to keep his eyes open in a gale of wind. This consisted of two sets of vertical plates of tin placed one behind another, diverging from the direction of the wind, with a clear wide passage between the two sets of plates. The wind, entering at the end of the apparatus, became separated by the first two inclined plates, and the residue that passed on in the direct line was again subdivided, so that at the end of the last set of plates there was no rush of air between them, and a man looking through the aperture, with his face to the wind, was in a perfect calm. This was a useful arrangement, the look-out man’s eyes being as well protected as though behind a glass. A glass would not answer the purpose, as it would become obscured with spray. The unfortunate circumstances which attended the completion of the ship prevented the introduction of these and many other arrangements which Mr. Brunel had originally proposed.[155] In November 1855, the Directors proceeded to appoint a commander to the ship; and their choice fell upon Mr. William Harrison, one of the most distinguished of the captains of the Cunard Company’s steamers. This appointment gave Mr. Brunel great satisfaction; he found in Captain Harrison a warm and faithful friend, and an able adviser on all matters connected with the completion and equipment of the ship.[156] Before they came to a decision, the Directors asked Mr. Brunel to communicate to them his views on the considerations which ought to influence them in their choice. The memorandum he drew up on the management of the great ship, and a letter on the duties of the chief engineer, are inserted at length, as forming a complete record of the principles which, in his opinion, should be followed ‘in the use of this new machine,’ while employed on the voyages which she was specially designed to make. _Memorandum on the Management of the Great Ship._ October, 1855.