Preliminary report on atmospheric electricity work, yacht “Galilee,” Sitka to Honolulu, August, 1907

On unpacking the instruments at Sitka it was found that the leaves of three of the electroscopes were damaged, making necessary to put in new leaves and to recalibrate the electroscopes. Some trouble was encountered in the calibration, due to the leakage between the poles of the battery of small cells constructed at the Office in Washington, which was overcome by removing all the parafine surrounding the cells. The work of calibration took so much time that there was no opportunity for observations in port, nor for observations on land to determine the influence of the ship on the results, these being especially desirable in the case of the potential work. The extra gimbal stand was mounted on the forecastle beneath the bridge. Lead weights were added, in addition to the brass ball to balance the Gerdien conductivity apparatus, when mounted on the gimbal stand on the low tripod purchased for the purpose. The Ebert ion‐counter was also fitted to be mounted on the same tripod.