CHAPTER XXV. 



THE GULF STREAM AND DEEP SEA CURRENTS. 



The cause of the Gulf Stream. Dr. Carpenter's theory. Oceanic 

 Circulation. Experiment with glass trough. No Comparison. 

 Strength of Polar Currents. Channel between Faroe Islands and 

 Shetland. Dr. "Wyville Thomson differs from Dr. Carpenter. 

 Reciprocal circulation of Water and Air. Beautiful theory of 

 Atmospheric Circulation overlooked by Dr. Carpenter. What 

 causes the cold deep waters. 



AFTER being one of the wonders of the world for a long 

 time, and a mystery which men of science in vain tried to 

 unravel, we have now come to regard the Gulf stream aa a 

 phenomenon very easily explained by the various natural 

 causes which give it birth. 



The trade winds, which blow almost constantly from East to 

 West, press and force the waters of the Atlantic into the Gulf 

 of Mexico, and these along with the rivers running into the 

 Gulf, raise the waters higher than the general sea level of 

 the Atlantic. As the narrow Strait of Florida is the only free 

 outlet from the Gulf, a rapid and permanent motion is given 

 to the water, which it maintains, in a greater or less degree, for 

 hundreds of miles ; and thus the Gulf Stream is established and 

 kept moving. 



Dr. Carpenter while describing the cause of the Gulf stream in 

 a. somewhat similar manner, sees in it only a particular instance 



