b PHENOMENA AT SEA. 



the blast of the bellows tnrough the feeding aperture, 

 and would be dissipated in the refining-house, to the great 

 injury of the workmen's healths; to prevent their ill 

 effects the arch or dome over the feeding hole is erected 

 to carry the fume into the stack of the furnace. 



ir. 



Facts and Observations relating to the Winds^ Waves, 

 and other Phenomena by which the Surface of the Sea is 

 affected. In a Letter from James Horsburgh, Esq. 



To Mr. NICHOLSON, 



Sir, 



of^theya'''^^^'^^ From reading in your Journal Vol. 12th. the account 

 of the Seiches of the Lake of Geneva, I have been indu* 

 ced to send to you a few remarks relative to the surface of 

 the sea, which are more particularly applicable to the In- 

 dian and Chinese Seas, where these observations were 

 made. — 

 The smooth re- When a steady breeze of wind has continued to bloW 

 f"teady bTee^I ^^^ ^"^^ length of time, with a clear sky, or small clouds 

 are augumcn- high in the atmosphere, the waves are generally regular 

 ted by the rise ^nd smooth, gliding in the direction of the wind ; parti- 

 thouf^h the cularly when there is no current : — At such times, if a 

 breeze js dimi- dense cloud is ^en^rated, and is low in the atmosphere 

 nishcd. when passing over the observer, the strength of the regu- 



lar breeze is decreased, and the waves appear to be agita- 

 ted by the cloud whilst it passes over them ; their summits 

 being more elevated and turbulent : — but no sooner has 

 the* depse cloud passed the zenith of the observer, than 

 the breeze resumes its former strength, and the waves 

 glide along smooth as before. 

 Itsccmaasif When many of these dense clouds are generated, and 



those clouds follow the course of the prevailinff wind, in succession, 

 had a direct ac- f _ . ' . , ' 



tion on the sur- the waves become turbulent and irregular, particularly 



face- when these clouds are near the surface of the sea, accom- 



panied by showers of rain : this has frequently been ob- 

 served in the Indian Seas, and often inclined me to think 

 these low dense clouds had some affinity with the surface 

 of the sea. ^ 



The 



