THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



WATERSPOUT. 



CHAPTER L 



THE OCEAN AND ATMOSPHERE OF THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



Characteristics of the Polar and Tropical Worlds — Geographical and Climatic Limits of the 

 Zones — Distribution of Land and Water — Climatic Importance of the Ocean — Currents of 

 the Ocean — The Gulf Stream — Influence of the Gulf Stream upon the Climate of Europe — 

 The Sargasso Sea — Columbus and the Gulf Stream— The Pacific and Indian Currents — 

 Heat and Force — Relative Positions of Hot and Cold Currents — Currents of the Air — The 

 Trade Winds — Atmospheric Currents and Climate — The Calm Belt near the Equator — 

 Rainfall of Difierent Regions— Rainy and Dry Seasons within the Tropics — The Monsoons 

 — Winds as Regulators of Rains — Annual Rainfall — Whirlwinds — Their Rotary Motion — 

 Tropical Islands — Volcanic Islands — Coralline Islands — Atolls and Reefs — Influence of the 

 Ocean upon Life in the Tropical Islands. 



FROM a wide survey of the Polar World, we now turn to the tropical regions, 

 where nature assumes aspects of an entirely different character. In the Polar 

 World there is a constant struggle between all sorts of life and cold. As we approach 

 the poles, cold gains more and more the mastery ; life nearly ceases upon the land, 



