334 THEORY OF HURRICANES, ETC. 



ning, two-thirds have been lost on the tract of 

 the Gulf Stream. 



We may readily comprehend all this when 

 we reflect, that the Gulf Stream is a portion of 

 the great equatorial current, (caused by the trade 

 wind,) which is obstructed by South America, 

 and deflected into the Bay of Mexico, where its 

 temperature is from 70 to 80, according to the 

 season. With its tropical temperature it issues 

 from the Bay of Mexico through the Florida 

 Channel, advancing along the southern coast of 

 the United States, north-eastward to the Banks 

 of Newfoundland, and thence to the western coast 

 of Ireland, until it is lost. For the distance of 

 1500 or 2000 miles its temperature is from 10 to 

 20 higher than that of the ocean on its northern 

 extremity ; the consequence of which is, exten- 

 sive evaporation. The vapour thus formed is 

 perpetually meeting with bodies of cold air, by 

 which it is condensed, causing a succession of 

 vacuums, local storms, water-spouts, &c.* We 

 are informed by seamen, who navigate the At- 



* As many as sixteen water-spouts were seen at the same time 

 by Captain Lawrence on the borders of the Gulf Stream, in 

 Lat. 32 48', when off Charleston, on a voyage from New Orleans 

 to New York in 1834. They are all formed by the sudden con- 

 densation of aqueous vapour, caused by the meeting of opposite 

 currents of air that deflect each other, producing a funnel-shaped 

 cloud, that descends in torrents of fresh, and not salt water, as 

 has been generally supposed. In short, they are what Franklin 

 termed them, whirlwinds at sea. 



