§ MR. MARUM (Kilkenny, N.)asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, Whether his attention has been directed to various Reports of the explorations hitherto made on board Her Majesty's Ship Challenger, relating to the subject of oceanic circulation, and furnished at intervals to Mr. William Leighton Jordan, F.G.S., appearing in the Report on Ocean Soundings and Temperatures, 1875; whether he is aware that there are great discrepancies in the Reports, and that in one of the last-mentioned cases there is a difference of 33½ degrees Fahrenheit between the statement published by the Admiralty and that published by the Treasury; and, whether, in the interests of nautical science, he will institute inquiries, with the view of reconciling this and the other serious discrepancies in the records of these serial surroundings?
§ THE FIRST LORD (Lord GEORGE HAMILTON) (Middlesex, Ealing)The Reports of the Challenger explorations, published at intervals by the Admiralty from 1873 to 1875, had not at that time been dealt with in the light of the investigations subsequently made, especially those on deep sea thermometers by Professor Tait. These Reports, therefore, can only be looked upon as preliminary. Careful perusal of the official narratives of the Challenger's voyage, and also the Report by Professor Tait, published in connection with the temperatures, will satisfactorily explain the discrepancies between the preliminary and final Reports.