122 LIGHT SCIENCE FOR LEISURE HOURS. 



old, and we had supposed exploded, fallacy. The 

 course of the Gulf Stream from the Bernini Straits to 

 the British Isles corresponds exactly with that which 

 is due to the combined effects of the motion of the 

 water and that of the earth upon its axis. Florida being 

 much nearer than Ireland to the equator, has a much 

 more rapid easterly motion. Therefore, as the current 

 gets farther and farther north, the effect of the easterly 

 motion thus imparted to it begins to show itself 

 more and more, until the current is gradually changed 

 from a north-easterly to an almost easterly stream. 

 The process is the exact converse of that by which the 

 air- currents from the north gradually change into the 

 north-westerly trade-winds as they get farther south. 



But it is further remarked that as the current 

 passes out beyond the shelter of Newfoundland, it is 

 impinged upon by those cold currents from the arctic 

 seas which are known to be continually flowing out of 

 Baffin's Bay and down the eastern shores of Greenland; 

 and it is contended that these currents suffice, not merely 

 to break up the Gulf current, but so to cool its waters 

 that these could produce no effect upon the climate of 

 Great Britain if they ever reached its neighbourhood. 



Here, again, we must remark that we are dealing 

 with no new discovery. Captain Maury has already 

 remarked upon this peculiarity. e At the very season 

 of the year,' he says, ' when the Gulf Stream is rush- 

 ing in greatest volume through the Straits of Florida, 

 and hastening to the north with the greatest rapidity, 

 there is a cold stream from Baffin's Bay, Labrador, 



