WEST COAST METEOROLOGY 29 



whereas it is well known that, while the mean winter 

 temperature of the west coast is several degrees 

 higher than that of the eastern and midland dis- 

 tricts, the mean summer temperature is several 

 degrees lower. 



The actual effect of the part played by the Gulf 

 Stream in this matter is a great deal too complex 

 to be laid bare in a couple of pages. Those who 

 feel inclined to go into the subject will find it 

 admirably discussed in Mr. R. H. Scott's hand- 

 book, 1 altogether the most lucid and attractive 

 treatise that has yet been placed in the hands of 

 unscientific readers. Roughly and briefly, the most 

 probable explanation of the problem is on this wise. 

 The atmosphere in the equatorial zone, expanding 

 enormously under the influence of great heat, is 

 perpetually rising to very high levels, whence it 

 overflows towards the poles. Contracting again as 

 it cools, it descends and meets the earth surface 

 somewhere about the thirtieth parallel of latitude. 

 But the circumference of the globe being much less 

 in that region than in that of the equator, the 

 velocity of the movement of the earth surface from 



i Elementary Meteorology. By Kobert H. Scott. International 

 Scientific Series. London : Kegan Paul> Trench, & Co., 1883. 



