PROCEEDINGS OF THE POLYTECHNIC ASSOCIATION. 589 



It is divided by the island of Madagascar, a part flowing between 

 tlie island and the continent, and the rest flowing outside of the 

 island ; but, before reaching the Cape of Good Hope, the two divi- 

 sions unite, and are then called "the Lagullas current." 



It has long been supposed that this current passes entirely 

 around the Cape into the Atlantic, and then flows north. Accord- 

 ing to the principles of geononiy, this is impossible. The current 

 possesses so much westing that it flows into the Atlantic a short 

 distance, and then turns and flows eastward and southward to the 

 Antarctic coast. The actual observations of navigators seem to 

 have convinced Lieut, Maury that this was the true state of the 

 case, and our theory of the currents confirms the idea. Prof. 

 Guyot has also, in his map of the world, indicated that this current 

 flows in the manner I have described. 



There is a large land-locked space north of the equator, in the 

 Indian ocean, the water of which does not obtain its needed cir- 

 culation by means of the South Indian ocean ellipse, and must, 

 therefore, depend upon its local currents. It is said by Lieut. 

 Maury that the Lagullas current "has its genesis in the Arabian 

 sea ; " but this cannot be true. A current that is generated in 

 that sea must flow southeast, if it crosses the equator, and north- 

 east, if it does not. It cannot manifest the westerly tendency that 

 the Lagullas current does, unless it has previously flowed a con- 

 siderable distance southwest. Probably the Arabian and Bengal 

 seas send a very large proportion of their warm waters into the 

 North Pacific, where they flow northeastward along the Asiatic 

 coast. Prof. Guyot represents the current as flowing southwest 

 from the Aral)ian sea across the equator, and along the east Africtm 

 coast. But according to our theory, this must be a mistake — unless 

 the current first enters the Arabian sen from the south, and brings 

 its westing with it. 



According to the received theory, the warm current that flows 

 south along the east coast of Africa should flow southeast. Its 

 warmth tends it toward the pole, and the earth's rotation tends to 

 force it eastward. Why, then, does it show such a strong westerly 

 tendency, keeping close to the eastern shore of Africa, and, as it 

 were, attempting to escape westward around the Cape of Good 

 Hope ? The old theories give no reason for this, though all 

 authors state the fact. According to the geonomic theory, the 

 reason is plain enough. The current comes from the Antarctic 

 region to the equator, and brings a large quantity of westing with 



