THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF THE SEA, ETC. 213 



not give birth to regular tides. Indeed, the existence of these 

 tides, with the immense flow and drift which annually take place 

 from the polar seas into the Atlantic, suggests many conjectures - 

 concerning the condition of these unexplored regions. AVhale- 

 nien have always been puzzled as to the place of breeding for the 

 right whale. It is a cold-water animal, and, following up this 

 train of thought, the question is prompted, Is not the nurserj^ for 

 the great whale in this polar sea, which has been so set about 

 and hemmed in with a hedge of ice that man may not trespass 

 there? 'lliis providential economy is still farther suggestive, 

 prompting us to ask, AVhence comes the food for the young whales 

 there? Do the teeming waters of the Gulf Stream (§ 160) 

 convey it there also, and in channels so far down in the depths of 

 the sea that no enemy may wa^day and spoil it on the long 

 journey ? Seals were sporting and water-fowl feeding in this 

 open sea of Dr. Kane's. Its waves came rolling in at his feet, 

 and dashing with measured tread, like the majestic billows of 

 old ocean, against the shore. Solitude, the cold and boundless 

 expanse, and the mysterious heavings of its green waters, lend 

 their charm to the scene. They suggested fancied myths, and 

 kindled the ardent imagination of the daring mariner's many 

 longings. The temperature of its waters was only 36" ! Such 

 warm water could get there from the south only as a current far 

 down in the depths below. The bottom of the ice of this eighty 

 miles of barrier was no doubt many — perhaps hundreds of — feet 

 ])elow the surface level. Under this ice there was also doubtless 

 water above the freezing-point. 



430. Under currents change temperature sloivhj.—Nov need the 

 presence of warm water within the arctic circle excite surpnse, 

 when we recollect that the cold waters of the frigid zone are 

 transferred to the torrid without changing their temperature 

 perhaps more than 7° or 8° by the way. Thirs transfer of cold 

 waters for a part of the way may take place on the surface, and 

 until the polar flow (§ 89) dips down and becomes sulmiarine. 

 At any rate, officers on the Coast Survey have found water at the 

 bottom of the Gulf Stream, in latitude 25^ 30' X., as low in tem- 

 l^erature as 35°. Now, if water flowing out of the polar basin at 

 the temperature of 28° may, by passing along the secret paths of 

 the sea, reach the Gulf of Mexico in summer at a temperature of 

 only 3° above the freezing-point of fresh water, why may not 

 water leaving the torrid zone at a temperature of 82'', and travel- 



