124 THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE SEA. 



CHAPTER VI. 



CURRENTS OF THE SEA. 



Currents of the Sea : Governed by Laws, ^ 232.— The Inhabitants of the Sea the 

 Creatures of Climate, 233. — The Currents of the Sea an Index to its CUmates, 235. 

 — First Principles, 236. — Some Currents run up hill, 237. — Currents of the Red 

 Sea, 238. — Top of that Sea an inclined Plane, 240. — How an under Current from 

 it is generated, 245.— Specific Gravity of Sea Waters, 248.— Why the Red Sea is 

 not salting up, 251. — Mediterranean Current : How we know there is an un- 

 der Current from this Sea, 252. — The sunken Wreck which drifted out, 253. — Both 

 Currents caused by the Salts of the Sea, 254. — Currents of the Indian Ocean : 

 Why immense Volumes of warm Water flow from it, 255. — A Gulf Stream 

 along the Coast of China, 256. — Points of Resemblance between it and the Gulf 

 Stream of the Atlantic, 257. — A Current into Behring's Strait, 258. — Geographical 

 Features unfavorable to large Icebergs in the North Pacific, 260. — Necessity for 

 cold to restore the Waste by the warm Currents, and Evaporation, 261. — Argu- 

 ments in favor of return Currents, because Sea Water is salt, 262. — Currents of 

 the Pacific : Its Sargasso Sea, 264. — The Drift on the Aleutian Islands, 265. — 

 The cold China Current, 266. — Humboldt's Current, 267. — Discovery of an im- 

 mense Body of warm Water drifting South, 268. — Currents about the Equator, 

 270. — Under Currents: Experiments of Lieutenants Walsh and Lee, 271. — 

 Proof of under Currents afforded by Deep Sea Soundings, 272. — Currents caused 

 by Changes in Specific Gravity of Sea Water, 273. — Constituents of Sea Water 

 every where the same ; affords Evidence of a system of Oceanic Circulation, 274. — 

 Currents of the Atlantic : The great Equatorial Current : its Fountain-head, 

 275. — The Cape St. Roque Current proved to be not a constant Current, 276. — 

 Difficulties of understanding all the Currents of the Sea-shore of the Atlantic can 

 not be accounted for without the aid of under Currents, 277. 



232. Let us, in this chapter, set out with the postulate that the 

 sea, as well as the air, has its system of circulation, and that this 

 system, whatever it be, and wherever its channels lie, whether in 

 the waters at or below the surface, is in obedience to physical 

 laws. The sea, by the circulation of its waters, has its offices to 

 perform in the terrestrial economy ; and when we see the currents 

 in the ocean running hither and thither, we feel that they were not 

 put in motion without a cause. On the contrary, reason assures 

 us that they move in obedience to some law of Nature, be it re- 

 corded down in the depths below, never so far beyond the reach 



