IGO PKOF. E. HULL^ LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S.^ ON 



of the theory set foi-th by Professor Hull. Huxley* leaves 

 undecided the influence of the Gulf Stream in ameliorating the 

 climate of Great Britain, and hints at the possibility of warm 

 currents being due to the dominant south-westerly winds of the 

 temperate part of the Atlantic. Under any circumstances, how- 

 ever, the lowering of the temperature 06 the Gulf Stream would 

 have a marked effect on the temperature of the ocean and the air 

 in the North Atlantic, and would affect the assumed currents due 

 to the south-westerly winds. 



To my mind the amelioration of ouv climate is mainly due to 

 the Gulf Stream or to subsidiary currents proceeding from it. 

 The existence of such fragile West Indian shells as Spirula 

 Perouii on Portrush Beach, N. Ireland, and at Woolacombe, 

 Devon, perfectly uninjured,! points to a branch of the Gulf Stream 

 touching first the Irish and then the Devon coast. Mr. R. Welch, 

 of Belfast, and friends, have collected eight to ten at a time, 

 especially in September.]: Tellina radiata, another West Indian 

 shell, has occurred at Courtmacsherry Bay, S.W. Ireland and 

 other places. Sir A. Geikie§ points to the occurrence of West 

 Indian plants on the Irish coast as having been drifted across the 

 Atlantic from west to east, or north-east. 



In September, 1897, in the Allan liner Parisian from Liverpool 

 to Montreal, the sea-water temperatures Avere logged approxi- 

 mately as follows : — 



September 10th about 55^ 20' N". lat. 9° 0' W.long. 58^ F. 

 12th „ 56° 25' „ 25° 31' „ 55° F. 

 13th „ 56° 23' „ 35° 23' „ 55° F. 

 14th „ 55° 12' „ 43° 6' „ 48° F. 

 15th „ 53° 13' „ 51° 50' „ 35° F. 



,, 16th, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Cape 



Norman E.S.E. 33° F. 



The rapid fall from 48° to 33° F. was due to the Baffin's Bay 

 cold current. 



Now, assuming Professor Hull's statement of the lowering of 

 the temperature due to the deflection of the Gulf Stream, owing 



* Physiography, 2nd edit., p. 174. 



+ Science Gossip, 1897, p. 150. | 2bid. 



§ Geikie, Physical Geography, p. 139. 



