refpedlng the Cnufe of the Tides, 141 



pian, and the vaft lakes of North America, in fome degree 

 at leaft ; but all thefe have no fenfible tides*. This tran- 

 quillity renders her attraction liable to fufpicion ; and we 

 fhall, perhaps, find that the greateft part of the tides in the 

 ocean have nothing more than an apparent relation either to 

 her influence or her courfe. 



The phafes of the moon do not correfpond all over the 

 globe with the movements of the feas. On our coafts the flux 

 and reflux follow the moon rather tfian her real motion : in 

 various places they arc fubje£t to different laws, which obliged 

 Newton to admit (chap. 25.) " that in the periodical return 

 of the tides there muft be fome other mixed caufe, hitherto 

 undifcovered " 



The currents and tides in the vicinity of the polar circle 

 come from the pole, as appears from the tefiimony of Fred. 

 Martens, who aflerts, that the currents amidft the iees fet in 

 towards the fouth ; but adds, that he can ftate nothing with 

 certainty refpecting the flux and reflux of the tides. — Voyage 

 towards the North Pole, 1 67 1. 



Henry Ellis obferved that the tides in Hudfon's bay came 

 from the north, and were accelerated as the latitude increafed. 

 It is impoflible thefe tides fhould come from the line or the 

 Atlantic. He afcribes them to a pretended communication 

 with the Sauth fea. At Waigat's (traits thefe north tides run 

 at the rate of eight or ten leagues an hour. He compares 

 them to the fluiceof a mill. — Voyage to Hudfon's Bay, 1746. 



Linfcotten, in 1594, made nearly the fame remarks, and 

 obferves that in Waigat's ftraits the water was only brackifh- 

 He fays the tides come from the eaft with great velocity, 

 bringing with them large iflands of ice. 



W. Barents (1595) confirms this account. 



All thefe effects can be produced by nothing elfe than 

 the effufion of ices furrounding the pole. Thefe ices, which 

 melt and flow with fuch rapidity in the northern parts of 

 America and Europe about the months of July and Auguft, 



* The Cafpian fea is about 860 miles long, and, in one place, 260 

 miles broad : iherc Ate ftrong currents, but no tides. 

 'there is no regular flux and reflux in the Baltic. 

 }n fome particular fpof. of the Mediterranean there is a fmall tide. 



greatly 



