24 THE OCEAN. [Book II. 



PAET II. 



EFFECTS IN AN OCEAN COVERING THE EARTH. 



Let US now consider the action of a westward 

 pressure of the nature we have described, if actmg 

 in an unbroken expanse of water covering the surface 

 of the earth and unobstructed anywhere by land. 



Its tendency is to set the water in motion from east 

 to west. And we have shown that the water thus set in 

 motion tends to diverge from the equator on both sides. 



K there be no obstruction in its course, tliis 

 tendency to diverge will be equal at all points of the 

 equator. 



But it is clear that no stream can diverge from 

 the equator unless a supply be brought to the equator. 

 There cannot at any point be diverging streams 

 unless at some other point there be converging 

 streams. And if the diverging tendency be equal 

 on every meridian, there is no reason why any one 

 meridian should yield rather than any other. And 

 therefore, unless it be possible to obtain a supply for 

 diverging streams by some other means than the 

 yielding of the diverging tendencies of one meridian 



ill-defined even by the best authorities, that the distinction which I 

 have here made does not interfere with any previous definition of 

 their relative significations. 



For the sake of further distinction and clearness in the use 

 of terms, I have used the termination ' wards ' instead of * ward ' 

 when referring adverbially to the course of the currents. 



