114 LIGHT SCIENCE FOR LEISURE HOURS. 



been seen distinctly marked upon the massive blocks of 

 ice which have pressed against her. 



(From the St. Paul's Magazine, June 1869.) 



IS THE GULF STREAM A MYTH? 



THE Gulf Stream has recently attracted a large share 

 of the attention of our men of science. The strange 

 weather which we experienced last winter (see date of 

 essay) has had something to do with this. The in- 

 fluence of the Gulf Stream upon our climate, and the 

 special influence which it is assumed to exercise in miti- 

 gating the severity of our winters, have been so long 

 recognised that meteorologists began to inquire what 

 changes could be supposed to have taken place in the 

 great current to account for so remarkable a winter as 

 the last. But it happened also that at a meeting of the 

 Koyal Geographical Society early in the present year 

 the very existence of the Gulf Stream was called in 

 question, just when meteorologists were disposed to 

 assign to it effects of unusual importance. And in 

 the course of the discussion whether there is in truth 

 a Gulf Stream or rather whether our shores are 

 visited by a current which merits such a name a 

 variety of interesting facts were adduced, which were 

 either before unknown or had attracted little attention. 

 As at a recent meeting of the same society these doubts 

 have been renewed, I propose to examine briefly, in 



