The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1871-08-07


lately assumed 30 much interest as the sea.
The recent expeditions, having in view the
exploration Of its before unfathomed depths,
have stripped the ocean of the veil Of mystery
which once overhung it and have given us
glimpses of its marvellous and mighty ma
chinery doing its silent and ceaseless work.
Among the most important contributions to
marine science yet issued from the American
press is late volume entitled "Papers on the
Eastern and Northern Extensions of the Gulf
Stream" translation of the German papers
of DR.. Petermann, DR.. Van Freeden and DR..
A. Muhry, by Captain r. H. Wyman, of our
photographic Office. This publication is per-
feet treasury Of Gulf Stream literature and will
doubtless give new impulse to the settlement
of the great problem Of its circulation. We
have already alluded to the remarkable theory
advanced by some geographers that this great
''river in the ocean," after emerging from
the Florida Pass, gradually loses its velocity
and parts with its heat so rapidly that, on
reaching the middle Atlantic in longitude forty
degrees west of Greenwich, it ceases to be
a sensible current of the ocean. This view
was first seriously and respectfully endorsed
before the Geographical Society of London by
Mr.. A. G. Fiadlay, in paper read in 1869.
The author of this paper commended that
England was in no way indebted for its climate
to the Gulf Stream, and reasoned that the
latter stream, after passing Florida, moved in
such small volume and with such diminished
rosk hat
years to cross over to the British shores,
during which time it would cool down to the
ordinary sea temperature. The assumption
was then ma lie that the English climate is due
to the westerly winds. Mr.. Findlsy made
poor impression on the London Society, but his
hypothesis has recently been revived by its quasi
recognition in the publications Of DR.. Carpenter.
The subject is one of vast Importance, and
there are some striking facts which modern
science affords, which go far toward giving
quietus to MIR. Findlay aud all who have
repeated him.
No law Of physics is better established, Gas
has long ago been mathematically demon
strated, than that all rotating bodies have their
velocity increased the nearer they approach
the axis of rotation, and vics 0ersd A
planet, when in its perihelion, being nearer
the axis OF planetary rotation, is accelerated
but in its aphelion it is retarded. The upper
currents of trade winds which move toward
the northeast have, in strict obedience
to this law, been often observed to
blow with great force when they
have reached the ice-clad SUBMITS of the
Peak of Tenerife and the volcano of Mauna
Loa, both near the tropic of Cancer; while
the return or surface trade winds, which near
the same tropic move toward the Equator
with great freshness, gradually die away and
become 1.-THE gentle trades" ere they have
reached the tenth degree of latitude. 1t is
even demonstrable that every projectile NOV
ing in the northern hemisphere has tendency
to bear to the right, and, as it approaches
higher ATTITUDES, to increase its speed.
1t is precisely for these reasons that the ar
gument of Mr.. Findlay and DR.. Carpenter
does not apply to the Gulf Stream. The i'm
pulse it receives from the earth's rotation
would continually heighten its speed and give
it torrential velocity but for the resistance
it encounters from polar currents. We're there
no other grounds for the final abandonment of
Mr.. Findlay's view this would be quite sufi-
cient. DR.. Carpenter thinks the warm
climate of England is due to flow of warm
water from the Equator distinct from the Gulf
Stream. But the oceanic observations of re-
cent date enforce the consideration which we
have just drawn from the mechanics of the
earth. That the Gulf Stream actually battles
the shores Of Britain and Norway and even
penetrates the Arctic Ocean, through the chan
mel between Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen, is
capable of irresistible proof
The most careful observations of the Scot
fish Meteorological Society, extending through
many years, show that the winter tempera-
lures of Shetland and London are, respectively,
thirty mine degrees and thirty-seven degrees.
If they had the climate usual in their ATTITUDES
the winter climate of London would be only
seventeen degrees and Shetland's would be
only three degrees. Shetland's is, therefore,
degrees above the temperature due to lati-
tnde. If England gets its mild climate
from some flow of tropical water distinct from
and independent OF the Gulf Stream, as Dr.
Carpenter supposes, London, which is farther
south than Shetland, should, in the nature of
things, first receive the benefit of such
tropical flow, and hence be warmer
than Shetland. But the reverse is true.
Moreover, it is most remarkable fact that
the monthly isothermA lines for Ireland in
winter strictly conform to the old and yet
mistaken belief that the Gulf Stream washes
the shores of Western and Northwestern
Europe. The Emerald Isle" is enveloped
with the folds Of the isothermal lines, which
increase in warmth from the centre of the
island outward to the ocean. The deviation