100 Baron N. Schilling on the Constant Currents 



D 



namely, the Gulf-stream and the Kurosiwo flow north-east ; and 

 the cold currents of the seas of Japan and Greenland go south- 

 west, just as the earth's rotation demands. But since the cur- 

 rents of the southern hemisphere, notwithstanding the ample 

 space open to them, are quite unaffected by the rotation of the 

 earth, we cannot but see that the direction of the currents in the 

 northern hemisphere must be referred to other causes. The 

 bend which the Gulf-stream makes again to the north by Cape 

 Hatteras, after a considerable inclination to the east, seems also 

 to speak in favour of our view. 



If the rotation of the earth deflects the direction of the sea- 

 currents only inconsiderably, then its influence on the direction 

 of the rivers can also only be very slight ; but even the slightest 

 friction of the water flowing along the bank, if constantly re- 

 peated on one side during thousands of years, must at length 

 perceptibly undermine the bank ; and hence Von Baer's view 

 may in this respect be right, notwithstanding the extreme 

 slightness of the deflection of the current. 



On the rotation of cyclones we will speak subsequently. 



Besides the action, above considered, upon already existing 

 currents, many ascribe to the earth's rotation the power to be 

 independently the motive cause of a current. Miihry, for in- 

 stance, seeks the force which impels the equatorial stream in the 

 centrifugal force of the earth. But this, as we know, act3 

 always in the direction of the radius of the different parallel 

 circles, and hence cannot possibly either accelerate or retard the 

 rotation-velocity of the water and the air. Miihry evidently 

 adheres to Kepler's explanation of the origination of the equa- 

 torial current, by the water staying behind the general motion 

 of the earth. This, however, contradicts all the laws of mecha- 

 nics, and is therefore quite inadmissible. The water and the 

 air adhere to the globe by the pressure of their weight, and 

 must, in the course of the thousands of years during which the 

 earth has turned on its axis, have very long since attained the 

 same velocity, through friction, since velocity once acquired is 

 not again lost so long as there is no resistance. The perma- 

 nence of the earth's rotation, however, sufficiently proves that 

 in the universe no such resistance is present. The phenomena, 

 too, of both air- and ocean-currents absolutely contradict the 

 assumption that the water and air are subject to a slower rota- 

 tion than the earth itself. 



If this assumption were correct, the atmosphere, being less 

 dense, must be far more exposed to the action of the retardation 

 than the water, and over the entire surface of the earth we 

 should constantly have strong east winds. Besides, although 

 decreasing from the equator to the poles, the retardation would 



