OCEAN CURRENTS. 349 



The western coast of the United States tends northeast- 

 ward from Cape Mendocino towards Tatoosli Island, and 

 southeastward from Cape Mendocino towards San Diego. 

 Therefore a current with a direction down the coast will 

 depend on easterly winds near Tatoosh Island. These 

 winds will become northwesterly only when it has reached 

 Cape Mendocino, and they will become more and more 

 westerly in the direction of San Diego. This is exactly 

 what tlie table demonstrates. 



We may infer besides, that as the direction of the Kuro 

 Siwo, and the wind above its area, is westerly between Lat. 

 40^ and 50,^ its waters will have a general direction towards 

 Cape Mendocino, and that the current which follows the 

 easterly winds off Tatoosh Island cannot be a part of th^ 

 Japanese, but of an Arctic current. This brings again 

 the currents as represented on my charts in harmony witli 

 the observations at the Signal Service stations, and with the 

 theory of Zoeppritz. 



It is hardly necessary for me to emphasize the importance 

 which my deductions; if correct, bear upon the climatology 

 of our State. 



The mountain barriers of our State which shield us from 

 influences by land, and the evenness of the temperature of 

 the neighboring ocean, guarantee the uniformity of our 

 climate. 



A glance at the accompanying charts exhibits the reason 

 why the northern part of California has more fog in sum- 

 mer, and probably more rain in winter; it explains the reason 

 why the temperature of San Francisco cannot sink as low as 

 that of Monterey; it reveals the causes of the subtropical 

 climate of Southern California. 



We get from these profiles arguments for a parallelism 

 between the isothermal lines, and perhaps the isobares of 

 California, with the corresponding lines of the neighboring 

 ocean. In short, they teach us graphically the importance 



