OBSERVATIONS ON HIGH CURRENTS. 117 
continue as such for any great distance, but would by 
and by veer so as to become a southwest wind, west, 
and so around the circle. In the southern hemi¬ 
sphere the wind currents would, of course, veer 
toward the left. 
This principle may also be observed in ocean 
currents. Those in the northern hemisphere curve 
toward the right, those in the southern toward the 
left. Rivers are said to illustrate the same rotary 
principle. In the northern hemisphere long rivers 
through level country, such as the Obi, gradually 
wear away the right bank, as we look down the 
stream. 
Let us apply this principle to the trade-winds. 
They start at about latitude 30°, and as they move 
toward the equator this rotary influence would turn 
them more and more to the right of their course, un¬ 
til they would return perhaps in a circle to their 
starting-point; the west winds of latitude 40° and 
farther north would also take a circular path, turning 
east, then south, and finally west. 
In obedience to the force of the rotating sphere, 
the winds would move in circular paths all over the 
surface of the earth. But although the currents turn 
to the right of a north and south course, they do not 
take a circular path. Are the Frenchman’s mathe¬ 
matics wrong ? It is said that figures do not lie. Or 
is there another force that we must take into ac¬ 
count ? 
As the wind crowds toward the right, the atmos¬ 
phere piles up like water before the moving oar. 
9 
