424 



equally trustworthy Swedish by A. Palmqcist M, the former giving 

 for England and France values about 0.029 and very closely 

 agreeing among themselves, while the latter give for the neigh- 

 bourhood of Stockholm 0.032 as an average of 197 determi- 

 nations. 



3. The atmosphere of the Southern Hemisphere, where 

 the area of the ocean is so great when compared with that of 

 the continents, has an extremely low percentage of carbonic 

 acid. MuNTz & Aubin-) found at Cape Horn the average value 

 to be only 0.0256 — 260, and in Chile 0.0267—282. Even here the 

 difference between the sea and the continent makes itself felt. 

 McNTZ & Aubin found in Continental South-America a mean 

 value of 0.0271, whereas G. Troiu-Petersson ^) found 0.0240 as 

 a mean of 19 determinations from the South- Atlantic (14 others, 

 which however are not so trustworthy, gave O.0222). The atmo- 

 sphere of Patagonia showed according to the same Author 0.O270 

 lan average of 17 determinations). 



These facts seem to indicate that the oceanic atmosphere 

 always possesses a lower percentage of carbonic acid than the 

 continental one, and as no other COo-absorbing agent exists 

 on the high seas, this must mean that the ocean-water itself 

 absorbs carbonic acid with considerable energy and, conse- 

 quently, that the mean COo-tension of the sea is distinctly 

 lower than the average percentage of the gas in the atmos- 

 phere, if this be so, 



the atmospheric percentage of carbonic acid must at pre- 

 sent be on the increase. 



it cannot be denied however that the observational evidence, 

 upon which this far-reaching conclusion is based, must be 

 regarded as insufficient, and 1 have made out the case chiefly 



') Bihang Svenska Yet. Akad. Handlingar Bd. 18, 1892-93, Afd. 11. 

 ') A series of papers Compt. rend. ISKl— 1884. 



') Über den Kohlensäuregehalt der Atmosphäre. Bihang Svenska Vet. 

 Akad. Handlingar Bd. 23, 1,497—98, Afd. 11. 



