the Distribution of Heat over the Globe. 97 



and between them there is a point where the influence of the 

 warm currents from the equator and cold currents from the 

 poles exactly neutralize each other. At this point the stoppage 

 of ocean-currents would not sensibly affect temperature. This 

 point, of course, is not situated on the same latitude in all me- 

 ridians, but varies according to the position of the meridian in re- 

 lation to land, and ocean-currents, whether cold or hot, and 

 other circumstances. A line drawn round the globe through 

 these various points would be very irregular. At one place, such 

 as on the western side of the Atlantic, where the arctic current 

 predominates, the neutral line would be deflected towards the 

 equator, while on the eastern side, where warm currents pre- 

 dominate, the line would be deflected towards the north. It is 

 a difficult problem to determine the mean position of this line ; 

 it probably lies somewhere not far north of the tropics. 



Influence of the Gulf-stream on the Climate of the Arctic Re- 

 gions. — Does the Gulf-stream pass into the arctic regions ? Are 

 the seas around Spitzbergen and North Greenland heated by the 

 warm water of the stream ? 



Those who deny this nevertheless admit the existence of an 

 arctic current. They admit that an immense mass of cold water 

 is continually flowing south from the polar regions around 

 Greenland into the Atlantic. Then, if it is admitted that 

 there is a mass of water flowing across the arctic circle from 

 north to south, it must also be admitted that there is an equal 

 mass flowing across from south to north. It is also evident 

 that the water crossing from south to north must be warmer 

 than the water crossing from north to south ; for the temperate 

 regions are warmer than the arctic, and the ocean in temperate 

 regions warmer than the ocean in the arctic ; consequently the 

 current which flows into the arctic seas, to compensate for the 

 cold arctic current, must be a warmer current. 



Is the Gulf-stream this warm current ? Does this compen- 

 sating warm current proceed from the Atlantic or from the Pa- 

 cific ? If it proceeds from the Atlantic, it is simply the warm 

 water of the Gulf-stream. We may call it the warm water of 

 the Atlantic if we choose ; but this cannot materially affect the 

 question at issue, for the heat which the waters of the Atlantic 

 possess is derived, as we have seen, to an enormous extent from 

 the water brought from the tropics by the Gulf-stream. Then, 

 if we deny that the warm compensating current comes from the 

 Atlantic, we must assume that it comes from the Pacific. But 

 if the cold current flows from the arctic regions into the Atlantic, 

 and the warm compensating current from the Pacific into the 

 arctic regions, the highest temperature should be found on the 

 Pacific side of the arctic regions and not on the Atlantic side; 



Phil. Mag. S.4. Vol. 39. No. 259. Feb. 1870. H 



