the mouth of the English Channel, and flows up both sides of Ire- 
land. That the middle portion of the Arctic current flows through 
the Straits of Gibraltar to supply the wastes in the Mediterranean 
Sea. And that the southern, and probably the greater portion of 
this Arctic current, rushing towards the north-west coast of Africa, 
gives rise to that current so much dreaded by mariners, and known by 
the name of the North African current. 
He then showed that neither the Gulf-stream, nor any other 
current in the North Atlantic, took their direction in consequence of 
any influence of the rotation of the earth on its axis; and pointed 
out the fact, that the direction of the equatorial current, of the Gulf- 
stream as it issues from the Gulf of Florida, and of the Arctic cur- 
rent as it crosses to Western Europe and Africa, are all opposed to 
such a supposition. 
He also showed that the Gulf-stream is bent back on the curved 
coasts of Florida by the greater force of that portion of the Equato- 
rial current which flows to the north of St Domingo and Cuba, and 
meeting the smaller stream which issues from the Gulf of Mexico, 
forces it back on the Florida coast. He also showed that the east- 
ward course of the Gulf-stream was given by the curved coasts of 
Florida, Georgia, and the two Carol inas. 
The author then referred to Commander Becher’s bottle-chart 
as fully corroborating his views of the course of the currents in the 
North Atlantic, and pointed out many facts, proved by that valuable 
chart, which were quite opposed to and inexplicable by the theory 
that the Gulf-stream flows onwards towards Britain. 
The different specific gravities of the Arctic current and of the Gulf- 
stream, the density of the sea-water on our western shores during sum- 
mer and winter, the existence of the telegraph plateau between New- 
foundland and Ireland, the finding in the mud brought up from it 
volcanic ashes identical with those from Iceland, and the known limits 
of the whalebone and spermaceti whales* were all referred to as cor- 
roborative of the views of the author. 
Dr Stark then summed up by showing the bearing of all the facts 
he had stated on the question as to what caused the mildness of 
Britain’s winters, and showed that they all corroborated the conclu- 
sion that the south-west winds were the agents by which this was 
effected. He showed that the only countries of Europe which could 
be materially benefited by these winds were the south of Spain, 
