PROCEEDINGS OF THE POLYTECHNIC ASSOCIATION. 587 



saire was unobstructed : and a current of the same character 

 entered from the North Indian ocean. 



Actual Local Cuerents — Norway Current. 



The current that runs north-east ah)ng the coast of Norway, is 

 generally regarded as a continuation of the, so called, gulf stream, 

 or north Atlantic ellipse. But it appears to me to be only a local 

 current, produced by the wants of the land-locked Arctic sea. 

 The cold waters that flow out of that sea, along the coast of Green- 

 land, render it necessary that a warm current should flow into it 

 from the Atlantic. The Norway current would therefore exist, 

 even if the gulf stream were to stop, or if it were to flow west 

 instead of east. 



If the communications of the Atlantic with the Arctic were cut 

 off", all the water that now flows into the Arctic, through the Nor- 

 way channel, would flow south-east to the African coast, and 

 thence to the equator; in a word it would be analogous to the 

 north Pacific current. But, as it now is, the water flows north- 

 east into the Arctic, and would flow out again south-east, produc- 

 ing another " drift period," if the elevation of the coast did not 

 present an impassible barrier. The current is forced to turn 

 upon itself and flow out of the Arctic south-west, through the 

 channel between Greenland and Iceland. Some writers describe 

 the current that flows out of Baffin's sea as coming from the Arctic 

 sea; and perhaps a very small portion of it has come through the 

 strait of Fury; but I suspect that most of the water that flows out 

 of Baffin's sea is the same as that which previously entered it from 

 the Atlantic. In other words Baffin's sea is a mere repetition of 

 the Arctic sea; which has a current flowing in on its eastern side, 

 and (mother flowing out on its western side. 



Guinea Local Current. 



On the west coast of Africa, a local warm current is generated, 

 which is called the Guinea current. It flows south and east into 

 the Gulf of Guinea, beyond which it cannot now be traced. Lieut. 

 Maury says that it goes to the Falkland islands, and warms the 

 Patagonian coast. This is incredible. Why should a warm cur- 

 rent like this, flowing/ro??? the equator, move westward across the 

 south Atlantic ? It is contrary to Lieut. Maury's own principles. 



