68 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1894. 



human geuius aud dariug and enthusiasm. No one can read of our 

 intrepid Arctic explorers without being thrilled with wonder at the 

 courage and self-sacritice which they have voluntarily undergone in 

 the cause of science. 



On a recent short ocean trip our party was seated on deck talking 

 about the wonders of the great deep ; I remarked that a row boat 

 could be seen from the ship's deck at a distance of not over three 

 miles. This was received with great incredulity. The young man 

 who knows it all was standing near listening to our conversation. He 

 was sure that was not so ; he had been yachting the Summer before 

 and he could see 40 miles on the ocean. To defend myself I sent for 

 the first officer on board the steamer and asked him ; he answered that 

 if it was a very clear day, and you had good ej'csight, you might see 

 the row boat from a ship's deck at a distance of four miles. He also 

 said the board of trade allowed them ten miles to see a steamboat. 

 The young man who knows it all said he didn't believe a word of it, 

 but he was very careful to speak so low that the officer did not hear him. 



Years ago at an examination, which I took with others, one of the 

 questions asked was, "What makes the ocean salt?" None of us 

 knew. One of the committee explained that the rivers washed the 

 salts of the earth into the ocean. If that is so, would not the rivers 

 as they neared the ocean be salt? There is no instance of such being 

 the case. Below New Orleans and Philadelphia ships fill their tanks 

 with fresh water for a long voyage. It is said that the Amazon 

 freshens the water a long distance at sea. If these immense rivers 

 washed the salts from the land, how does it happen that the ocean is 

 less salt where it receives these mighty waters? It has been found 

 that the ocean contains a larger amount of salt where it is most 

 remote from land. Whales could not exist in fresh water. 



The Gulf Stream is the most important of the ocean currents. It 

 flows from the Gulf of Mexico, at a distance of about 75 miles from 

 our southern coast; here it is from 40 to 50 miles in width. It 

 increases in width as it flows farther north, where it is met by the cold 

 current from the Arctic ocean. The temperature is higher than the 

 surrounding water through which it flows without mingling. If you 

 draw a bucketful and put your hand into it, you will find it as warm 

 as new milk. AVe have generally experienced rough weather while 

 crossing the Gulf Stream. Many times the ice covered ships after 

 vainly trying to enter our northern harbors return to these warm 

 waters, where the ice all melts away and they are ready to try again, 

 with perhaps better success. 



