"OIL ON THE TROUBLED WATERS."
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
Sin,—In the Spoctator of October 18th a correspondent, "W. A. C.," apropos of the use of oil as a wave-stiller during the 'Volturno' rescue operations, writes, "It would be interesting to know of other early evidence of this use of oil" (as recorded by Bede early in the eighth century). I enclose a little book in which (p. 136) is an interesting account of the "introduction" by Franklin of oil as a water-smoother in 1774, with references to its earlier use for that purpose. By the way, oil on the troubled waters is always printed with inverted commas as a quotation, but I have never yet found anyone who could give me chapter and verse for the original.
The book in question, Chronicles of the Seasons (London : J. W. Parker, 1844), contains on pp. 136 seqq. an account of Franklin's experiments on his voyage to Madeira and his paper read before the Royal Society on June 2nd, 1774. The use of oil for this purpose is mentioned in Pliny, and is attributed to the fishermen of the Spanish coast in order to enable them to see oysters lying on the bottom, "which are very large, and which they take up with a proper instrument." The seal-catchers of Scotland are also said to resort to this device, and it is stated that at Newport, -ELSA., the sea was always smooth when the whalers were in harbour. Franklin continued his experiments successfully on Derwentwater, the pond on Clapham Common, and off the coast at Haslar. We can print no more letters on this subject.—En. Spectator.]
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