Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1878 - 1954)(about) |
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Friday 10 November 1922
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LATE PRINCE OF
MONACO.
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES.
Albert 1., Prince of Monaco, whose death was recently announced, was eminent not only as a patron of science but as him- self a savant of real distinction. says the " Japan Chronicle."
Prince Albert Honore Charles belonged to the House of Goyon de Matignon-Gri- maldi, and was born on 13th November, 1848, son of Prince Charles 111. and bis wife, Antoinette Comtesse dc Merode.
At an early age the Prince joined the Spanish navy, and he remained for the rest of his life a sailor ; indeed in exter- nal appearance he had a singular resem-
blance to thc captain of a battleship. His love for the sea never left him, and he spent most of his spare time and much of his fortune in oceanographical studies. The first yacht which he devoted to practical research at sea was the Hirodelle, in which, in 1885-1886, he carried out investigations in the Gulf Stream, and was the first to investigate its influence on the French
coast. Later on the Prince developed many new appliances or dredging at various depths, and began o use his submarine elec- lrical lamp as a bait for fish. On a fourth trip to the Azores he explored some four- teen lales in the islands, of which thirteen had never been investigated before.
Submarine Fauna.
In 1891, the Prince made a trial trip in a new steam yacht, the Princess Alice specially designed for marine investigation. In 1892, thc Prince laid before the Academy of Sciences at Paris a project for establish- ing high and low level meteorological ob- servations in thc Atlantic Ocean on a
large scale. Weather stations on the
Azores, Madeira, the Canaries, Bermuda,
and the Peak of Teneriffe were proposed ;
and it was suggested that Monaco should act as the centre for the collection and dis- tribution of the information obtained. During thc period of his investigaton of
the Atlautic the prince used his intimate knowledge of every technical detail con- nected with the sea and its investigation,
and by the use of the machinery he had perfected he was able to add largely to our knowledge of the distribution of the deep-sea fauna. He added many new
species to the Atlantic fauna.
A special method which the Prince adopted for investigating the fauna of the intermediate depths, especally suc- cessful in the case of some of the larger squids, was to examine the stomachs of whales which feed ot those depths. One of the Prince's discoveries. Lepidoteutbis grimaldii, is the type of the new family. This was vomited during thc dying struggles of a sperm-whale, but unfor- tunately it had lost its head and arms. The fragment was about one yard long, and thc complete body of the animal must have been at least seven feet in length. With the arme added it must have been a monster of colossal strength. Another immense cuttle fish, a Cucioteuthis, has arms as strong as a man's and carried suckers furnished with claws as powerful as those of a tiger.
In later years the Prince made many investigations in the Artic regions. For instance, he records in 1897, when thc Prin- cess Alice was much hindered by quantities of ice and by foe. that the autochrome plates of the Lumere Co...... a blue veil over their surface at about lati- tude sixty-nine degrees, forty N.. which increased in intensity up to the highest point he attained, seventy-nine decrees N. On returning south this blue veil faded away as slowly as it had arisen.
The Prince has left permanert memorials of his work in the oceanographical museums which be built and endowed both at Monaco and in Paris.
Some Publications.
Mention must also be made oí the series of publications in which the results of the Prince's researches have been recorded Under his auspices, and at his expense the " Resultats des Campagnes Scientifi- quos accomplies sut son Yacht par Albert ler Prince Souverian de Monaco" began to appear in 1889, followed by the " Bulletin de I'Iinstitute Océanographique " in 1914 and later by the "Annales de l'Institute Océanographique." The " Annales " were not stopped by the war. One of the latest personal contributions of the Prince was a paper with a map of ocean currents on the drift of floating mines in the North Atlantic and thc Arctic Ocean during and after the war,
Thc Prince's devotion to the advance- ment of' science was recognised by many high scientific honour. From time to time he lectured in various European capitals including London and Edinburgh, and be- came well known in the world of inte: national science. Personally, he had
grave but real charm of manner and liked nothing better than to conduct scientif visitors from other ountries over bhs mu- seum and to discuss with them the pro- blcms on which be was engaged.
The Prince married first in 1869. Lady Mary Douglas-Hamilton, a distant oousin to the present Duke of Hamilton. This marriage having boon annulled at Rome, Lady Mary marrried Count, now Prince Festetics de Tolna : she died at Budapest not long ago. The Prince of Monaco mar ried in 1889, Alice, Duchess Dowager of Richelieu a neice of Heinrich Heine ; this marriage was dissolved in 1902.
Thc Prince leaves a son by his first marriage the Hereditary Prince Louis Honoré Charles Antione who was born at Badeb-Baden on 12th July, 1870, and is a lieutenant-colonel in the French army. The Prince also leaves , an adopted daughter Charlotte Louise Juliette, bom 1898 and created Duchess de Valentinois. who mar-
ried at Monaco on 19 March 1890 Count Pierre de Polignnc a kinsman of the Duc de Policnac.