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SCIENCE IN DIMINISHING CASUALTIES AT SEA.


At the recent meeting of the British Association, Don Arturo de
Marcoartu read a paper on the above subject.

He stated that he wished to draw special attention to increasing the
safety of navigation against storms, fogs, fire, and collisions with
wrecks, icebergs, or vessels, and recommending the development of
maritime telegraphy. He urged that vessels should be supplied with
apparatus to communicate with and telegraph to each other and to the
nearest coast the weather and sea passed over by them, and that reports
given by vessels should be used as "warnings" more extensively. He
wished the mid-Atlantic stations connected by telegraph for the same
purpose.

In regard to the use of oil on rough seas, he said that Dr. Badeley in
1857, Mr. John Shields five years ago at Peterhead and last year at
Folkestone, the Board of Trade in 1883, and a committee on life saving
appliances of the United States had made experiments. The conclusions of
the committee were that in deep water oil had a calming effect upon a
rough sea, but there was nothing in either source of information which
yet answered the question whether or not there is in the force exerted
by the wind a point beyond which oil cannot counteract its influence in
causing the sea to break. He thought it appeared that oil had some