Discoveries Made With "Flying Trapeze" Show Cause of Loss of Heat in Ocean, Clarke Declares

Interesting and important discoveries made with a "Flying Trapeze", despite countless obstacles and the disgusted opposition of an old Cape Cod mariner, will be set forth in a report to be published shortly by George L Clarke instructor of Biology.

When a strange pyramidal tower appeared on the waters of Woods Hole harbor one-day last summer, the seaman shook their heads. "Those fools over in the Oceanographic Station have gone completely bats this time. That darn contraption will collapse with the first ripple" was the opinion which was generally expressed.

A great deal of the light and heat of the sun in lost at the surface of the ocean, and the scientists were unable to account for this so called surface loss. Whether this loss was due to faulty instruments, or what caused it if it did exist, was a question which greatly interested the men at the Oceanographic Station.

Build the Flying Trapeze

In order to measure the amount of light which was reflected from the surface, and what percentage of the total loss this caused, a floating tower was decided upon.

"As the janitor at the station used to be a plumber", Dr. Clark said, "we decided to build our pyramid out of pipe, each aide being about fifteen feet long. Barrels supported and buoyed it. On top of this triangle a high tower was built, with the instruments at the top. No one believed the thing would float.

Christened With Beer

"When we launched it, it neither capsized nor sank, and in joy we hurled a bottle of our precious beer at the thing, and in answer to popular demand, it was christened the S. S. "Flying Trapeze".

Taking a cigarette, Dr. Clarke smiled as be recalled how the first trip was made. "We took it out into Buzzards Bay on the stern of our small motor boat, "Asterias", and there we launched her. She floated and our work of re-

cording began."

Disaster followed, however: one day in a choppy sea, the entire tower collapsed.

The instruments recorded important data before the collapse. Dr. Clarke proved conclusively that the amount of light which was reflected back up again from the surface of the water did not account for the loss of light which had been found. The only possible explanation of this was that the of light was absorbed in the thousands of tiny bubbles which exist in the top layer of ocean water