26 A HANDBOOK FOR SOUTHPORT. 



during the winter months is some degrees warmer than our 

 atmosphere. It is also considered that the west coast of our 

 island is milder than the east coast. Why this should be so 

 is not easily explained without bringing into the question the 

 qualifying influences supposed to be derived from the cur- 

 rents of heated water setting from the equator. Neither to 

 the winds that blow, nor to the sun that shines, can these 

 differences be wholly referred. It is not a theory, but a 

 positive fact, that a portion of the Gulf Stream impinges on 

 the west coast of Ireland, bearing abundant traces on its 

 bosom, in the shape of fragments of tropical vegetation, of 

 the hot latitude from which it has travelled. It is, indeed, 

 possible that these shores would enjoy a milder climate than 

 they do at present, did they not contribute to the sea so many 

 large rivers fresh from the hills, serving to put a barrier of 

 cold water round our shores, and absorbing the surplus heat 

 from the warm currents. Many significant data might be 

 procured if proper observations were made at such parts of 

 our coast as are favourable to the required experiments. 

 Many of our fashionable summer resorts on the coast might 

 be found to owe the peculiar mildness of their climate to the 

 proximity of these currents, and to the absence of any great 

 outlet of fresh water into the sea. 



Strong sea currents, setting over the south coast of Ireland, 

 would be deflected towards the estuary of the Mersey, and 

 as the currents of the Dee and Mersey prevent them ascend- 

 ing those channels, these waters would be pressed towards 

 the north, and may tend to raise the temperature on the 

 South port coast. 



The fact has been proved, that, while the deep sea water 



