62 THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE SEA. 



miles from c. So, if the cutter had "been in time, she had instruc- 

 tions that would have taken her in sight of the object of her 

 search. 



92. It is true that, before the cutter sailed, the Kilby, the 

 Three Bells, and the Antarctic, unknown to anxious friends at 

 home, had fallen in with and relieved the wreck ; but that does 

 not detract from the system of observations, of the results of 

 which, and their practical application, it is the object of this work 

 to treat. 



93. A beautiful illustration of their usefulness is the fact that, 

 though the bark Kilby lost sight of the wreck at night, and the 

 next niornina: did not know which wav to look for it, and could 

 not find it, yet, by a system of philosophical deduction, we on 

 shore could point out the whereabouts of the disabled steamer so 

 closely, that vessels could be directed to look for her exactly 

 where she was to be seen. 



94. These storms, for which the Gulf Stream has such attrac- 

 tion, and over which it seems to exercise so much control, are 

 said to be, for the most part, whirlwinds. All boys are familiar 

 with miniature whirlwinds on shore. They are seen, especially 

 in the autumn, sweeping along the roads and streets, raising col- 

 umns of dust, leaves, etc., which rise up like inverted cones in the 

 air, and gyrate about the centre or axis of the storm. Thus, 

 while the axis, and the dust, and the leaves, and all those things 

 which mark the course of the whirlwind, are traveling in one di- 

 rection, it may be seen that the wind is blowing around this axis 

 in all directions. 



Just so with some of these Gulf Stream storms. That repre- 

 sented on Plate X. is such a one. It was a rotary stoi'm. Mr. 

 Piddington, an eminent meteorologist of Calcutta, calls them Oi/- 

 clones. 



95. Now, what should make these storms travel toward the 

 Gulf Stream, and then, joining it, travel along with its current ? 

 It is the high temperature of its waters, say mariners. But why, 

 or wherefore, should the spirits of the storm obey in this manner 

 the influence of these high temperatures, philosophers have not 

 been able to explain. 



