360 Ml\ J. K. Laughton on the Theory of 



This was the ratio observed, in a long series of years, in the 

 neighbourhood of London. At stations further north, we find 

 at Melville Island, 



Polar winds .... 470 

 Equatorial .... 119 



(Coffin's " Winds of the Northern Hemisphere/' in Smithsonian 

 Contributions to Knowledge, vol. vi.). 

 At Felix Harbour, 



Polar winds . . . 13347 

 Equatorial . . . 7010 



(Ibid.). And from Colonel Sabine's "Report of the Observations 

 at Toronto in 1840, 1841, and 1842 " I obtain the following :— 



Winds blew from 



Hours. 



Pressure in pounds. 



North 



1245 

 2411 



1999 



1055-9 

 34011 



1379-7 



BetweenNorth and West 

 „ East 



Total polar 



5655 



5836-7 



South 



688 

 2291 

 1897 



189-6 

 2196 

 907-1 



Between South and West 

 ,, East 



Total equatorial ...... 



4876 



3292-7 



West 



740 

 979 



613-3 

 752-4 



East 





It would be easy to give many more Tables all bearing the 

 same witness ; those I have given, however, are enough for my 

 purpose. Rut I would call attention to the fact, which want of 

 space has prevented my tabulating except in one instance, that 

 the greater number of polar winds are also westerly, whereas the 

 circulation of the air according to the received idea would neces- 

 sarily cause the polar currents to be (as a rule) easterly. The 

 air pressing to the equator from the pole, and deflected from its 

 southerly course by reason of the rotation of the earth, must 

 be deflected towards the west, and could not have an easterly 

 tendency. 



The assumption of certain belts or zones of calms is another 

 important part of the scheme ; and indeed we can quite under- 

 stand how an interchange between the upper and lower currents, 

 such as is shown in Maury's diagram already referred to, might 

 produce such calms ; but, as a point resting on evidence, the ex- 

 istence of such regions of calm round the poles, whether north 



