Chap. II.] INERTION. 43 



however, the Antarctic voyages of discovery under 

 Sir James Ross and Captain Wilkes have shown the 

 existence of a considerable tract of land in high 

 southern latitudes, I will proceed with this theo- 

 retical consideration of the action of vis-inertia3 

 under the supposition of an Antarctic Continent of 

 considerable extent existing in the south polar 

 regions. 



Let the streams marked Atlantic and Pacific in 

 Plate XI<2. be streams flowing towards the Antarctic 

 Continent e, from separate equatorial regions. These 

 streams have a tendency to run eastwards in their 

 course from the equator towards the pole. In their 

 course towards the pole they are obstructed by the 

 continent e. On meeting with this obstruction, each 

 stream must divide right and left ; one portion of 

 each stream being turned westwards, and the other 

 portion of each eastwards. The westward division 

 of each stream must, as it flows on its course, meet 

 the eastward division of the other stream : so that 

 the Atlantic and Pacific streams meet each other in 

 both directions on opposite sides of the Antarctic 

 Continent. From each of these meeting-points, the 

 streams must branch off in opposite directions : so 

 that one branch from each meeting-pomt must fall 

 against the Antarctic Continent, and the other branch 

 from each of the two meeting-points must flow north- 

 wards towards the equator. 



Let any points A and b, on opposite sides of the 



