The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1858-03-11
From TIE Phiindriphj" ,i"u,u,'.

recently delivered by Prot. \. -. Elchv,
Superintendent Of the I. :. Survey, before
the Philadelphia Board Of Trade:
In the first lecture, the history OF the dis
covcry of The Gulf Stream and Of the pro.
gress Of its exploration have been given, in
'cIuding the statement OF the mode of invcs-
cation, and in the Coa>, Survey, of the in.
'strumcnts employed, and of the officers by
whom the work was done. The mode Of
discussing the results have also been dc.
scribed, and the law developed by winch
The ocean temperature decreased from the
surface to grca. depths below the axis Of the
Gulf Stream, and in the cold current be-
tween the stream and the coaSt.
The present lecture began with Il dcscrip-
lion of the mode Of discussing the results
for temperature across the stream at differ
ent depths, giving occasion for two kinds
of diagrams, upon one set of which the
varying temperature at the same depths
are etraced, and upon the othc,svaryny depth
at which the same temperatures arc found.
Upon this latter form Of diagram the fig
ure at the bottom Of the ocean is repre-
scntcd. In the detailed diayramsthc curves
for each depth in the series a,c given. and
then the results arc grouped or arranged SO
rs to bring more observation to bear up
on several cases. The accordance Of the
seperate curves and Of the averages was
shown by Ill example taken from the Sandy
Hook section OF the stream.
Those sections present cold water between
the coast and Gulf Stream, with Il covering
Of warm water, which is the overflow oi the
gull, and which thins out in approaching
the coast; very sudden rise from this
cold water to the warm water of the gulE,
so sudden lis to have received the lame Of
the "cold wall" This rise Of temperature
continues to the axis of the strc:un, hrv"nd
which there s fall !, sec, nd rise, and Il
second fall, and SO on, dividing" the stream
into successive warm a,l cool bands.
At Sandy Hook, the rate Of rise Of tenn
ly a degree Of the thermometer for every
mile and :. half. 1t is greater ut fifteen tall-
ons than at the surface, ai,L this is the prop
er depth from which to obtain results, anil
may be reached with the common iIcr,
momctcr without sensible error.
The scver, sections Of the stream OH
Sandy Hook, Cape May, Cape lIrnry, Char
lesion, Canavcral, anal Cape Flori'!,, were
shown to give similar results.
The same diagrams proved that the cold
wall extended southwarl, and was not lost
in the Florida sections, though not so sharp
ly defined rs further north. The Cape Hat
teras and Cape Fear sections were more ir-
regular than the others from the influence
of the shoals.
In passing from the surface TO great
depths the influence of depth III changing
the forms Of the curves o. temperature was
shown.
The form Of the several bands Of warm
and cool water into Which the Gulf Stream
and the dimensions Of the stream and its
from the land were stated. At Cape Flor
ida, the cold wall is about ten miles from
the shore; at IIattcras, tlirty-five miles,
and at Sandy Hook, two hundred and tI,ir
ty-fve miles. The axis of the Gulf Stream is
distant from the cold wall twenty five miles
at Cape Florida, fifty at Cape IIatlcras, and
sixty at Sandy Hook. The width Of the first
three bands of the Gulf Stream, which in
clude its most marked phenomena is ut
Cape Florida twenty five miles, at Hat
teras one hundred thirty, and at Sandy
Hook one hundred and fifty. The Whole
extent Of warm water, which at Cape Flor
ida, at the depth of fifteen fahoms, is about
thirty miles in breadth, at Sandy Hook it is
nearly three hundred.
The questions were next examined: how
permanent are these divisions Of the stream,
and how near can their positions be ascer-
tanned
The Cape Henry section had been run
over three times, in different years and by
different officers; the Cape IIattcras section
twice, the Charleston section and others
twice. The results agreed remarkably
The winter results presented, as might be
expected. less detinteness than the summer.
The discussion of all tho results showed
that the positions Of the cold wall and of
the axis of the stream could be determined
60 within about five miles and half. The
positions Of the vessel being known to be
about three to five miles, the result showed
that the position of these bands were nearly
constant.
Another mode Of ascertai'ing the limit Of
accuracy was shown by the positions of the