Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1853-12-06
NUMBER 4s'
Works OF The Creator.

Tho mariner who first crossed tho cen.
trail Atlantic in search of q new world
was astonished when. on the 10Th Of
September, 1909 he found himself in the
nilst Of That great bank Of weed
the sea.wecd meadow OF Oviedo-,he
Sargnsso sea which, with a varying
breadth OF 100 to 800 miles, stretches
over twenty-five degrees oflaiitule, GOV.
ering 100000 square miles in surface,
like huge floating garden, in which
countless myriads Of minute animals
I'm fool AMI shelter. Now, i, is the
ed ly ofnnmcrous sea rivers which col.
Iecl in one spot, AMI the cold water of
the Northern Atlantic mixing with the
warm streams Of the southern anil ives.
tern Currents. which produce the TEN.
peraturc mos, fitted to promote this ANA.
zing development Of vegetable anil ami.
nal life. What becomes of the dead ri.
mains OF this vast marine growth? Do
they decomposc es fast as they are pro.
duce |? or de they accumulate into de.
posts Of peculiar coal, destined 10 re-.
wari the researches Of future geologists
AMI engineers, when the Atlantic ofour
day has become the hab,ahle land ofsn
aile. time? In the chart of the Pacific
Ocean we are presented with another re.
marknhle instance Of the influence OF
sea rivers on vegetation.
From tho shores Of South Victoria,on
the Antariic continent. a steam OF colN
wafer. 60 degrees in Width, (,he reader
will recollect that in high latitu,les the
degrees Of longite.l are very narrow)
drifts slowly along in northeast and
eas,erly direction across the Southern
Pacific. till it inpinges upon the South
American coast to the south of VaIpa.
raiso. There it divides into Two arms,
one of which stretches south an east,
doubles Cape Horn, AMI pene,rates into
Southwestern Atlantic; the other flows
hist noflheas, AMI then norlhwes, along
the shores Of Chilli anl Peru, carrying
colder waters into the warm sen, ami
producing q colder air along Pacific 10
the base OF the An les. This current,
discovered by Humboldt and called af.
ter his name, lowers the temperature Of
the air aoou, twelve degrees while that
OF The water itself is someimss as much
as ,y.four degrees. colder than that
OF the still waters Of the ocean through
which it runs. The COLI air seriously
ati'cts :he vegetation along the whole Of
this coast; at The same time that the cold
stream raises fogs and mists, which not
only conceal the shores AMI perpex the
navigator, but extend inland also, and
materially modify The climate.
The beautiful 'nui henefcent charac.
ter oil modifying influence becomes not
only apparent. but most impressive.
when we consider, "as..lhe rain map Of
the world shows US, that on the coast
of Peru no rain ever falls; ani that, like
the desert of Sahara, it ought, therefore
to be condemned 10 perpetual barrenness.
But consequence of the cold stream hus
running along its borders, "the atnos.
phero loses its transparency, and the sun
is obscurel for months together. The
vapofs at Lima are often so thick that
the sun seen through them with the
n'kel eye assumes the appearance Of
the moons disc. They commence in
the morning, and extenl over the plains
in the form Of refreshing fogs, which
disap pear soon alter midday, and are
followed by heavy dews, which are pre-.
cipitated during the night" The NOR.
r ming mists and evening dews thus supply
the place Of the absent rain, and the
verlure which covers the plains is the
offspring ofa sea.river. What char.
ming myth would the ancient poets have
ma le out Of this striking compensation.
-Edinburg Reciew.