Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1853-01-25

WIN" SoiS'"se p'VsSH'S uS WIN sH1h
ing picture:
Down dropped the breeze, the sails dropped
down
Twas sad as sad could be;
And we did speak only to break
The silence Of the sea.
Day after day, day after day.
We stuck. nor breath nor motion;
As idle as painted ship
Upon painted ocean.
Water, water every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water every where,
Nor any drop to dr' L.
The very decps did rot; Oh Christ,
That ever this should be;
Yea, Shiny things did crawl with legs
I Upon the Shiny sea.
According to the usually accepted
theory, the winds rose from the surface
in these latitudes, and wen, back as an
upper current 10 the place from whence
they came. Recent researches have, how.
ever, somewhat modified this view. Lieu.
tenant Maury, Of the Washington Oh.
servatory, after much study Of the sub
iect, finds reason to bel ieve that, instead
Of returning upon themselves, the winds
actually pass from one pole to the 9th.
er. "The trade.winds Of the southern
hemisphere" he observes, "after arriv.
ing at the belt Of equatorial claims, as.
cend and continue in their course to.
wards the calms Of Cancer; after pass.
ing which they proceed toward the north
pole from the southwest, and enter the
arctic regions in spiral curve, contin-
ually lessening the eyrations, until,
whirling about in a direction contrary
to the hands Of vatch, this air ascends.
and commences its return as an upper
current toward the calms OF Cancer. In
the other hemisphere the current ap.
proaches the antartic regions in spiral,
grating with the hands Of watch, and
contracting its convolutions as it draws
nearer and nearer the pole" There is
much to be said in favor of this new
theory; magnetism is considered by Lieu.
tenant Maury to be the cause Of the phe.
nomena in question, view which de.
rives much weight from Mr.. Faraday's
late discovery ofthe magnetic condition
ofthc oxygen ofthe atmosphere.
That there is an upper current in a
reverse direction to the trade wind be.
low, is proved by observations made at
the foot and summit of q mountain. AT
Tenerife, for instance, while the regular
northeast trade is blowing on the sur.
face, southwest wind is felt on the
peak; and in the southern hemisphere
the upper current would consequently
be southwest.
More is known Of the northeast At
lantic trade. wind than Of any other: it is
less steady than the southeast; but both
are more uniform and regular than those
Of the Pacific. However, in the present
activity Of ocean navigation, by steam.
crs as we'll as by ships, We shall shortly
have we'll combined system Of obser-
vations, which will determine their lin.
its and variations. Already. some pro.
gress has been made in laying them
down in what are called "wind aud cur.
rent charts" which will be not less use.
! full and instructive to sailors than our
Ordnance maps to q pedestrian tourist.
In the Atlantic, the belt of calms above
referred to is altogether on the north of
the equator. never on the south, shifting
its situation according !, the seasons,
being most northerly in August. and
most southerly in February. The eau.
ses assigned for the presence Of the belt
in the north are. that the confguration
of the coast line ofSouth America fayors
the advance Of warm ocean water from
that direction, I, some distance beyond
the line. The mountains, too, OF the
same continent tend to draw current of
air from the south; besides which. as the
northeily hemisphere contains more land
| than the southern, it is nee essarily hot
ter. By this means the fac, is account
ed for. M
In the Indian Ocean, the vast space
lying between the continent Of Africa
and the Eastern Archipelago. monsoons
or periodical winds prevail. They do
not, as the trade. winds, blow always in
one direction, they change every six
months in obedience 10 certain we'll.
known causes. In January. the temper.
aturc Of South Africa is at the hottest,
while India it is at the lowest; rush Of
air consequently takes place toward the
region most heated, and this produces