12 
OctoBER 13TH. 
ORDINARY MEETING.—DR. BADCOCK ON THE 
GULF STREAM. 
The mild winters enjoyed by England, together with its im- 
portance as a commercial nation, were mainly due to a river running 
between well-defined banks in the ocean, from the Gulf of Mexico; 
and which, possessing a higher temperature than the surrounding 
ocean, imparted a warmth to the western shores of Europe they would 
not otherwise enjoy. This stream, from the place of its source, was 
called the Gulf Stream. 
It was a well-ascertained fact that from the Gulf of Mexico, out 
by the Bahama Straits, and along the American continent to 
the shores of Newfoundland, where it met a colder current setting 
from the Polar Seas, this current, with a velocity of about 100 
miles per day, was constantly running. In about 30° West Longi- 
tude the stream divided: one portion travelling N.W., to the Arctic 
Sea; the other, 8.E., to Africa. 
Deep-sea soundings showed that, while its surface-temperature 
was higher than that of the Atlantic (about an average of 
80°), the bottom temperature was as low as 35° in some places, 
showing the set of a cold current from the Pole. The. colour 
differed from that of the Atlantic, being of a deeper shade of 
blue,—off the Carolinas presenting an indigo blue colour. The salt- 
ness, also, was greater—being as 44 to 4. The specific gravity was 
also greater than that of the surrounding ocean. Several theories had 
been advanced respecting its origin, which probably arose from a com- 
bination of causes. Among those suggested were the influx of the 
waters of the Mississippi; the influence of solar heat in the Gulf of 
Mexico,—about the hottest part in the ocean; the greater density 
caused by evaporation ; the effect of the equatorial current, together | 
with the tendency of the warm water of the tropics to flow towards 
the Poles. 
One feature all who had visited the Gulf Stream noticed,—one 
which he had seen in 1866 for days,—viz., the enormous accumulation 
of sea-weed, chiefly the Sargassum oacciferwm, in which a variety of 
animal forms were found. Differences of opinion prevailed respecting 
