_Inquiry on the Construction of Submarine Telegraphs._--Aroused more especially by the above failure, the Government, in 1859, before undertaking further responsibility, resolved to thoroughly investigate the construction of cables. It was also felt that the ultimate failure of the Atlantic line was possibly due, in part, to weak joints and general defects in the manufacture of the insulating envelope. This committee--under the direction of the Board of Trade, with Captain, afterward Sir Douglas, Galton, R.E., in the chair--devoted twenty-two sittings (covering a considerable period of time) to questioning engineers, electricians, professors, physicists, manufacturers, and seamen, who had taken part in the various branches of cable-work and whose knowledge or experience might throw light on the subject. Investigations were instituted concerning the structure of all cables previously made, and the quality of the different materials used, as to special points arising during manufacture and laying, on the routes taken, electrical testing, and on sending and receiving instruments, speed of signaling, etc. Actual experiments were also made in connection with this inquiry, to ascertain (1) the electrical and mechanical qualities of copper, pure and alloyed; also of gutta-percha and other insulating substances; (2) the chemical change in their condition when submerged; (3) the effects of temperature and pressure on the insulating substances employed; (4) the elongation and breaking strain of copper wires; of iron, steel, and tarred hemp separately and combined; (5) the phenomena connected with electrically charging and discharging conductors; (6) methods of testing conductors and of locating faults; besides the whole science and practise of cable-making and laying. The report of the committee was not published till some time afterward. It expressed a conviction that submarine telegraphy might be made sure and remunerative in the future, based on the evidence adduced regarding the proper manufacture and working of submarine telegraphs. _Formulation of Electrical Standards and Units._--This inquiry was shortly followed by an important paper before the British Association for the advancement of science by Sir Charles Bright and Mr. Latimer Clark (then in partnership), which put the practise of electrical testing on a systematic basis, thereby considerably forwarding all electrical work connected with submarine telegraphy. A committee was formed shortly afterward, which gave the suggestions then brought forward the seal of universal officialdom.