That the conductivity of the wire should be fixed at a high standard, certainly not less than eighty-five per cent; that the cable should be at least equal to the best ever made; that the core should be electrically perfect; that it should be tested under hydraulic pressure, and at the highest pressure attainable in the tanks at the Company's works; that after this pressure, the core should be examined again, and before receiving its outer covering, be required to pass the full electrical test under water; that careful and frequent mechanical tests be made upon the iron wire and hemp as to their strength; that special care be given to the joints, where different lengths of cable were spliced together; and that when completed, the whole be tested under water for some length of time, at a temperature of seventy-five degrees. This was higher by forty degrees than the temperature of the Atlantic. The insulation is improved by cold; so that, if it remained perfect in this warm water, it could not fail in the icy depths of the ocean. [Illustration: OLD ATLANTIC CABLE, 1858.] [Illustration: NEW ATLANTIC CABLE, 1865.] After passing through such elaborate tests, all will be glad to see the final product of so much care and skill. As the long line begins to reel off from the great wheels and drums, we may examine it in its completed and more perfect form. It is only necessary to compare it with the cable laid in 1858, to show its immense superiority. A glance at the two as they appear on the preceding page will show that the cable had _grown_ since first it was planted in the ocean, as if it were a living product of the sea. This growth had been in every part, from core to circumference.