The New York Herald Newspaper, January 19, 1856, Page 3

PROF, BACHE. ON THE GULF STREAM. ITS HISTORY AND CHARACTER. How the Bhode Island Merchantmen sed to Beat the New York Packets a Fortaight. ‘DR. FRANKLY AND THE NANTUCKET SKIPPER THE COLD WALLS, THE HOT STREAM AND COAST SURVEYS—THEIR RESULTS. Beautiful Tribute te Lieat. Bache, &e,, &e., &o. On Thursday evening, on the auniversary of the Geo- graphical Society, Profe:sor Bashe delivered a lecture ia the chapel of the New York University. Mr, Heury Grinnel introduced the lecturer who, he said; would make some rimarks on the Guit Stream, Or. Bacar then said:—- . The Norwegian peasants who found upon the coast strange fruits or grains of kinds which the earth in that region did not produce, and carefully preserved them as curiosities—[Geographic Botavique, Aliph. De Caxdolle, Pp. 616, Causes de Transporta, &c,)— vere iu poseecsion of evidence that the watore of those seam had at some time washed the shores of the tropics. The fishermen of the coast of Scotland had, in thy logs of cotton wood throwa upon their chores, the same prof. The roates by which the fruit or the tree came were in a degree conj:ctural, but the botanist knew that it bed grownia a more genial cilme than that to which tho current had brought it. Such facts wero carly Known and commented upon, and even pressed into the service o’ the hypothesis of a Northwest passago. [Phii. Trans., (London), abridged, vwol, x. (orig.) 1675.] They were, however, generally re- cognized as proving the preseuce of the waters of Southern North America upon the shores of Northera Europe. ‘The great part which the heat of the sun p'ays in dia- turbing the equilibrium of the surface of our globe is well understood. Wherever he shines upon the surface the sir resting upon it is set in motion, so that the circle of the sun’s illumination as it a¢vances over the earth isa circle of disturbance. Itis beautiful, on some calm summer's morning, just as the day has begun to dawn, to icok from the top of a high bill upon the quiet of the plain bslow, The air has gradual cooled during the night, and the valleys are Ned with dense cool sir, quite quiet, with fog adngicg over every stream and jake, and po showtag the se- cret course of the stream aiong the dssap? ani the hidden places of the lake. Tae light grows atrongar, and a8 the first rays of the sun tone this pescefal scaue it is thrown into movement. The fog slouds rise and fell again; they spread, covering the hill tops, which jast now were bare, thinning out as ibey rise, the rising of the sun, and become at laste thia haze spread over the whole scene. The masses of fog serve to show that the air bas been in motion, for they have riven and fa!len with it. Tbe curreots, mingling aie of differ-nt densities, light no longer penetrates directly ead ew ily through it, but objects are seen waving to aod fro. Dimness and distortion are the results, or the tight is lost, aud ohj acts disappear entirely, as if uniiluminstei. In the great bolt of the earth within which the sun travels in his annual course. standing still acd turning back whea he reaches its mits, this action bas a form ant regalarity which to us of the temperate regions hewn» parailel. The erastoc ‘end the landeman of the temperate regionsjure ued to con- sider the wind as something uncertaiu, th» laws of ehich it may Le weil for men of rcience to study and endeavor to explore, but which may be “ past Anoing 01t.’” Strange the emotions ot such wen when the tropica they first find themselves hopelessly to leeward. The con- stant blowing of the eastern trade is invarisb'e as the pro- Tess of the sun, showing fened a ion almost as ths hiads of a-watch the tine—hix daily, weekly, mogthly, annaal pr ss. These currents of sir carry the waters forward with them from Eact to West, and when they meet the land great currents are produced, ani taking their di- rection from the land rect in waters of the equatorial regions to the North and Sonth temperate seas, to ba re- turned in those great systems of circulation, some of which have long been known to navigators and geogra- phers, and others of which remitn ye! —— tly de- |. (Carte Theomale des Globe, par Nicolet— Project Dierne Carte des Courant Maina, osr M. Duper- ry: Idbrary Bmithsonisn Instita’e) Two o! the most Saree Of these—one of the Norta Atlsatle ani the of the North Pacifio—will form the eadjecta to be brought before you on successive sveoines, ths one the American Gulf Stream, and the other ths Asiatic ujsoam —the first matirg, as is most prohale, the of the Gu'fot Mexico, co, its names Sadlestiog the view of grorca. ers a8 rough the straits of Pema" ‘iy hevieg our coast, and secking that of Europe, main stream to return by a soant er current tothe tropical regions in which it was first prodaesd the branches recognizable in the Northern seas of both Ane- rica and Europe. The second, as traced by Lieat. Dent, from the po'es of our Ja ition under Comm>- dore Perry, deflected to North by the shores of For- mosa, passing slong the coast to the North ward and East- ward, and ieaving it at the prijecting portion of the coast of Japan, as our stream dues the coast of North Carolina at Hatteras. T do not propose in this ad iresa to attempt s complete progress of the discovery ia regard to the Gulf mn; ess, @ brief notice of i: is almost exsential. Ponce de Leon, in 1512, sailed threagh the channel be- Florida aud Guba’ thi the airait, and passed B mt ded veyago in the stream, carried the news of "8 conquests to Euro) « He must be regarded as real discoverer of the Gulf Stream as a great oceanic highway.’’ [Lo'ter of Dr. J. G. Kohl to Superin'endent Coast Survey. january, 1856.] The first delineation of wnich I have any knov- ¢ Wedge, though it is altogether probable thst there were attempts made to show different parts of it at an earlier date, was that msde by Dr. Franklin, in 1769-70, from the {oforaatton com- Tuunicated by Captain , of Nantucket, command- ing a whalovg vessel from that port. The de'alls are so ia- teresting, that | insert it as a remarka»le instance of practical segacity on the part of the fisaerman and the “Vessels are sometimes retarted and sometimes tor- warded in their voyages, by currents at sea, waich are often not perceived. Abvut the year 1769-70, there was an application made by the Board of Customs at Boston to the Lords of the Treasury tn London, compliining that the packets between Faimouth aud New York wore gene- rally s fortvight longer in their passages than merchant ships from London to Rhode Isiand, and propusiag ia- stead of New York, that for the future they should be orcered to Newport, Being then coaserned in the ma wagement cf tbe Amerisan Post Office, I happened t> be eonsulted om the occasion; and it appearing strange to me that thore should be such a diference between two places scarce a day’s run asunder, especially when the merchants shins are generally deeper laden, and more weakly manned than the packets, and had from Lonton the whole Jeogth of the river and Chanuel to run b-fore they left the Jand of England, whi'e the packets had only to go from Falmouth, I could oot but think the fact mid un r misrepresented. There bappeacd thea to be im Londcm a Nantucket sea ciptsia of my ac- quaintance, to whom I com munisated the affair. poder Fag: tigen} - tee “y the difference was ‘this, tbat the le Irland eaptains were ac- juainted with the Gulf Stream, which those of the Eng: ib packets were not. ‘We aro well acquainted with ‘that stream ’ eaid hs, ‘because in our pursuitof whsics, which keep near the sid+s of it, but ate not to be met with in it, we run down along the sides, and frequently cross it to change our side; and, in crossing it, have A and spoke with those ate, who were end stomming it. le have informed it they were stemming a current that was inst, ef three miles an hour, acd advised ‘and get out of it; but they were too wise by simple American fishermen. When ‘Vght,’ he added, ‘they ure carried back the current more than ti are forwarded by ihe ; anc if the wind be good, the subtrsction of sevent; a day from ir course is of som? importance.’ then observed that it wasa pity n> notice was taken of this current upon the charts, and requested him to mark it out for me, which he readily complied with, adding di- rections for avoiding it in sailing from Europe to North America. 1 procured it to be engraved, by order from “the General Post Office, on the old shart of the Atlantic, at Mount & "s, Tower Hill, and copies wore sent to ‘Falmouth for the esptains of the packets, who sligated it, ‘however; but it has been since printed in France, of which edition Therete — 8 007. the 1 stream i+ probably generated by the great a201- -mpulstion of water on the eastern peokg ot America bo. tween the trovics, by the trade winds which constantly ‘blow there. It is known that a large stream of water, -ten miles broad, and only three feet deop, has by a strong its water driven to one and wustained, become six feet deep, while the wind- ward side This may give some idea of th+ ae upom the American coast, and the roa. son of recy Daye ina strong current theoagh tho islands into the bay of Mexico, and from thence issuing ne gulf of Florida and proceeding along ths Coast to the banks of Newfoundland, where tt turns off towards, and runs down through, the Western Islaads, ‘Having since crossed the stream soveru! times in passing ‘between America and Earope, I have been atton- tive to sundry oircamstanoes relating to it, to know when one is in it; and, beside the Galf weed with which it is interuperred, is always warmer than the sea each side of it, and that it does not sparkle in the night, [annox hereto tho obser. vations made with the thermometer in two Voyages and may possibly add a third. I¢ will apper from them that the may be & usefal instrament to the na. vigator, since currents coming from the northward into southern reas will probably be found colder than the water of these seas, as the currents from southera sens into northern are apt to be warmer.” (American Philos. ‘Trans., voi If., Old Serion,) ‘The quaint device which bears the title of the map in one corner, shows the Ameticon Leng ml ‘an unmistakable likenesa, leptune, index finger ratsod with much @othority, while the sea god, thor holding faat . ! peat Sod ugh ig ‘The ebart drawn by Franklin expresses cxooedtogly well ‘the inner limits of tho Gulf @tream, as wo now know them. ‘We ehall see that the passage from cold water to warm on inner side is so abrupt at the depths mont sought by the whales, that tho indications from their frequenting the ‘would have been somewhnt of the eame order of acouracy as that of the thermometer at the surtnce. ‘Tho obsorva\ions gt Franklin that {he water of tho H z oNBW o TORK HERALD, SATURDAY, , JANUARY, 19;) 3956. im moevigstion Als, to the very. unpretenting it:ie T have now the bar t> snow to ad weich I fouad miay years ag> tan turk of mixge.laseous ‘whore if Rat lala aezicc:- ioverest'awakeael bv Frank- 2 grest thst Col, Joasrhsa 5 Puttosu, fraon., val. Iii, 6 5) ater. wards chief of the Corps of Ecgineers of the United dtates, William Stiektand, (Loid, val v, @ 3) eod Jona Hamifl'on, (Ibid, vol.) wita. several, otners, folirwad ta his wake, ani collected many careful obe-vetivas ia ‘voyages between the United States sai Great Bitia aad along @ part of our coast. These observations were directed to the limit of the sua, {ts temperstace a4 compared wih the air above it, aad with the »seaq ‘water adjacent to it, st diffe:eat se 1078 of the years, aad in ciffe:ent years, the ting and Cores of its ourreat, &e. The observers also em raced other results ia treic researches, which 11 is not at preseat nesessary to dwall upon. rhe observations of numerous British and Amert navigetors in private and pubilc vessels, obsarviag ei from bp otives cf interes’. aud curiosity’ or oy offi siat ro ullected aad digenied by Major Rea veutigation of the Cucreats of the A:laatic Pp hed 1832, ate: his death, fraa bie notes, by his iaughter, Laay Rodi. (Aa “Investigation of the Currents of the Atiantic Ucean,’’ &c, by the iste Moj r James Revnell, F.R. S,, & Loadon, 1832.) This work is accompanied oy an atlas containing elaborate charts o' the currents of the North Atlantle and senting the obsorva‘ions of diferent asvigs in the rervice of the British Admiralty, servations, with few exceptions, were condael to the surface or to very modorate distances below it, aai it fe cusy to seo that the surface does not present the best conditions for investigstion. Major Rengull was aware of this, an’ recommendsd deeper exploratioas. ‘Berghaus? Physical Atins, aa edition of whish by Alex. Keith Jobneon, o’ Koinburg, 13 best koown {a our ooua- try, contains e resumé io his map of what was ka wo in regard to this stream up to 1848, which, thoug2 quite incamplete, reema to give a goueral idea of the dire:tion, « ‘and velocity of the current. 1 materiais have been collected by Lie st. Maury, in his current charts, and dedus‘tons from taem have beep presented at different times in his sailing direc tas, in the proceedings of the Amerisaa Association for the advancement of science, in his address before th's society two years since, aud in other publications. Amsmote by the same officer, contalaing many fogemious suggestions, is among his early pap-rsin the Sowhern Literary Mes- p' A might, perbaps, be expected here to pass in reviow the c.aims to have aovanced ou: snowicdge of the Gulf Stream covering the same period of timo, with the re- searcher of which I propose to give you aa avoant; bas this history cannot ve written now, nor perhaps at all by me. The best mode io arrive at truth ts fairly to state facts, end this done by each one, to leave to others to ad- just the. merit or demecit of tne several sugzestions, pans, discussions and developemense. As the tempeature of ths Gulf S'ream is oae of t's most striking avd important features, #0’ was to the ia- vestigstion of it that I determinui firat to duect the at- tention of the officers of the Coast Surrey. Ih» cucront was to be observed—ita direction and force; the dea-tty, color and otber peculiarities of the wa‘er; the vege:ab end animal pioductions were to he collected; tue me- tesrology to be studied; but thee were to ba suborcinate to the main object of inquiry, namely, the temperature of the water, : ‘To have observed the surface temperatares merely, with instruments caretully peepared, would hav been a sep forward; for withou; such comparison) the results could only be considered as rough, aod mere'y to be em- ployed in the ab»ence of be*ter oues. At the surface, too, ibe beating effests of the sun, the effec's of the temp ra- ture of tbe air, of wiad and of rain, are the geeatess. Is was necessary, in a systematic exploration, to gy velo ¥ the surface, Ata certain cistancs these disturblag ac- ons might be expected to diminisa, and a ce-taia vea- sons to cease altegetber. Besides, it was Kikoly tha’ this stream extended ony to a certain depih, ani that part of the return northern curreat tollow- ed the bottom of the sea. The iaterest ia ‘the deep sea temperature proved in fact most adsording, end every effort was directed towards ovtatuiag an iastru- ment for their ready tovestigation, Tne great p-essice to which such an instrument would he satj ose: readeret this no easy matier. The instrument mus: resister its indications; it must be easily used, ani tuerofore of the class requiring a simple observation; not a philosophicri expeiment. The crdinary self-registeriag therm» netor ‘was first tried, and to secure it from pressure it was placed ina glvbular case. This thermometer requiced quite along time to take the tenpe-ature of tue sea aroun it, the case keeping it from immedia‘e evatact wih the water. Besides, st quite moderate depths, the eavelope, unless of unwieldy thickness, was eraihud— avd this was true, when to diminish the size of the appa- varus we resorted 1 small metallic thermomsters, ike those made by Jungernsen, of © »penhagen, and by “9n- tardon, of Washington. There wust be 4a opsning tu ta- troduce the thermometer tato the envelops, aud this opening—however tigh:ly ic might be made to ciose by grinding cn by the interposition ot India rubber, or other material fulaill asinilar parpose—changed its fizace under pressure, and the costly thermo.nster inside wis crushed, or salt water waa forced int» it, desteoying tts delicate parts. It would detain you to» long to note the various contrivances which the iagenufty of our hydro- @taphecs and mechanicians produced, a2d how tae modes ‘which succeeded beat with one osarver came out only second or third best with another. We must reasa depths beyond which Six’s self registering theenonsier would give way, or their indications become erroneous. After many experiments Sex:on’s self registeriag ther- mometer superseded all others, and the attention of its ingenious inventor was tarned to pertectiag its 8. It consists essentially of a coil of two me als, like Bre- qvet’s meta liic thermometer—the more oxpauaible placed in the interior—its form, scale, cwering, and, in short, all its details, being ada to the uso for whica it ts thus designed. The coll, fastened at one end, unwinds when the heat increases, and tightoms when it desresses; eo that by placing upon the fore ead of the >i] a hand, like that of a watch, to move upon & sanpon’ the tem- pereture is seen. It registers, by the ai trivances, either tho heat or lowest temperature to which it has been exposed, or both the highest sed the lowest. The case is merely to provect the instrument from external iojuryin use and to sapport the spiral coll, the scale and hands o: iodicators. A _ four inches of silver and platinam, serves to give a eufficient sens! ve ee the instrument, so that two-tenthe of a degree of wenheit can eailly bc read upon the dial. The brass ani silver parts of these in- strameats require to be costed thickly with guid, which is readily done by the electrotype process, uirlag, however, great care and thoroughness to 92 effective. ‘Their nee demands certain precautions which it would te out of place to state here. No instramen: shouit be made answerable for the want of skilior care o?an ob- server. Ican truly say thet ia the hands of many o! servers, and used at great depths, these instra n:a' havo given entire patisfacdon. fhey have in the Coast Survey observations superseded all others. It wou d seem an oasy thing to ascertain the depths t> which a thermomevr ‘attacked to a sounding Ine bad gone. I recollect weil that the triumphant objection was made to Ericsson’s and to Ogden’s seads for soumliog, that it was quite rimyle to measure the length of the lize to which the lead was attached. fhe fact is, hew- ever, that at considerable depths the length of tho sounding line not only does not give the deptt to wht:h the lead at the end of it has been, but does not give evan an approximu:ion to it wi hin twenty to thirty per cont of the truth; under different eiroumsiances not even a constant font to the true length of the line, We buvotound Ericason’s and Ogden’s leads very conveuient for moderate depths, and Maxsey’s, sligh ly modided, for greater depths, This ison the prin’ ple of Woltman's wheel, which bas been applied to similar purposes long azo, and tit leaves something to be desired on the suore of sousi- ility and convenience. The wheel turuing as the line descends, and prevented from turning Sy a cach wiea iisirg, the turns are registered by whee! work, and tis the cepth to which the lead has descended és marked up- on its seaie. The goneral features of the Gulf Stream bsing kaown, it was @ natural ides to refer it to @ medial lice or axis, on ¢ach pide of which it would be more or less stmi- lar in its temperatures, and therefore to run sections perpendicu’ar to this line acroes the whole bread .h ot the stream. Toset out from points oa the coss: of well ascertained posiliom, and determlaing by tho best means known to nautical astrogomy the place of the versl, at the shortest interval —practicabls; to check if necessary there resalts by re urning to the +eme or anotbor known Pointy to occupy positions et which the temporature at different d-pths would ve do- termined, the trequency of which would depend upon the enue or less rapidity of the a temperature; io determino at tho several positions the tempsratuces at depths varying more or less rapidiy as the temper themselves were found to vary, attaching several ments at moderate intervals for observations depths, at larger intervaia for greater depths—such the general plan of exploration pursued in the Coast “i regard to the seasons for explorations, the summor was of course on every account to be preferred for the greater part of the stream. The season of sold and storms, which renders navigation perilous, and interfores with work, is also thatlwhen the stream, cooting rapicl from the air hbove it, the surface water and, mixing with the warm water below, disturbs essentially the equilibrinm of temperatures, Sounding in faery Pi ger is a very difficult, if not impracticable 0) » Yielding with much labor very {naccurate results, Of course a cvmplete exploration requires that the changes of the seasons 4 favesti- gated, but to add to the essential difficulties of the unknown features of the stream those of nevi- iavsew in storms, would have been to task the observers yond endurance. It has turned out that tf we had braved the winter season in our early work, the confused state of the temperatures at different depths below the sunface would have im; the stady of the rosalte and have caused us probably to miss some of the most beauti- fol and striking of tho generalizations. Important as is the Gulf Stream to the navigator of our ccast, and forming as !t docs one of {ts most marked hydrcgraphio features, still it was only 2 part of the work of the Coast Survey, and to havo givon aa uniue thare of means and attention to those researches at the expense of the soundings of the harbors, bays, sounds and fea coast, would have manifestly injadictous. Hence ‘thrse researches have been prosecated by emeal, and frem time to time, but always with « ‘sim, so that even partial reeults contributed to the accomplishment of the general It would be of more personal than eral intorest to observations of sptek of the instructions for making those in to instruments, to the mode of repre- sonting the results lh tables and diagrams, to the pho- nomena that were to be looked for, aud to the mode of "the ahifer of npdeograpile pectin ofthe Coasts ie ot rogra) parties of the Coast Survey, to whom the wok hse toon entrunted, have, In most cases, been selected for it in consequence of some special aptiiude, and gonerally as volunteers, The first officer who entered be the fleld was Lieutenant (now Com uinder) Charles H. Davis, the it accomplished superin- tendent of the Nautical Almanac. Full of zeal accord- ing to knowledge, he made a most succesful beginning, and from bis observations in 1645 resulted the law of tempereturo with depths in the cold current between the earth and the Guif Stream. Bottom was reached at 1,300 fathoms, and specimen brought up by Lientonant Davia, in October, 1846. This officor, who had pro- viously been connected with the Coast Survoy under Mr. Hassler, rejoined it room aftys my appointment, to o0-oper- ocean near it, intro | ate in the investigation of tides Ant currents, which was one Of the first of tho gecerel bydrographie problem to sh my aitendon was turaed, To is 2g labors, those of my late’ brother, George Bache, of the bydrogra; ot and currant | observations survey. The early trigis of thz iastrumeats, de- fing those best adapted to the work, thelr im Jrove- the rdutins in tho sisal pares ot tue Galt ‘ream exploration. were mate by Comagnder Davis. £ well wher the delight with wi we bo & vesozaize? in the distriburiva of heat ta the columa of water ox- re ored fa his first voyage off :ho coast of Long [signi aud tip Pee Seay discridalon: of hen’ Pate aad warmed a! top slowly transmitting, oy taperf-<; cuwcustion, to the tower strate the an! toe ware fare. It was from 20 waat of ia‘eres’, ont from th? u+- cearity for cate ing upon enother and very diffi sul! fivld of duty, aud ferm & generous pre‘erring of ‘he suvposet ciainus of ir, that Lieutenant Davia left thiy fie d of rerearch in 1846, after a seasuo's work. aod the shige was asvig ed tu Lieutengat ones orgs M Bacre, OF this officer, whose esriy death, wails in ih? succes ful prosecudvn of this work, wo sifil deplore, T oply epems. in the terms recogaized as atric'- SEES oe TES, ly juss by ail bis avsocia‘es, whom [ sey that bis turn of mind was pecalierly adspad to grapple with this -problem, end thes al. hi+ energies and resource were beat t9 it4 solu'ion. Remarkably fertile in expedieats foc expecta snt, delicste iu the uss of iustrumsnts, esrefal in obsecvaiioms, ready classifying ats, poreerasinn ta their sccumutat ra, apt at generuliz og, mind glowed brighter ant brighter as he ent inw & cngree of experiment sad obse-vs- Mon. In this case™his enthuriasm kindled ami birasd briiliant It is most interesting > follow bis descrip tions of trials of the fosteuments, of nis meth is of observation, and of his tentative results. Fo -ee how pe-- fectly he idendtied nimsel: with the investiga fon—ayw the navigator attending to his vessel; mow ths experi- mental pher, caring for, and wateniag aut trying his instruments; now the maa of aviens>, lvoklag 4', copnecting, generalizing the results. We ows to him the discovery of that sudden shenge of teupsra- ture from the inner cold current to the Gulf dtream, which became so marked at moierate depths ai to deserve the name wiich h« gave it, of tne ‘cli wall.’ ‘Writing to me, he says:—'1 would like to be with you when you look at and admire this section—for ad- wire it you must—and speculate on it with you. Ha:0 the lett we have the main current ot tha streim to the eastward by Cupe Hatieras, and Sut'iag ap egainst a bank of cold wa'er, which it everfiows, ani ou the righ: miogling with a vast reservoir of warm waer, which is probably brought there by the eddies f-om the stream iteelf. How esutifully the tine is detined to the left, or westward, and how well th» ooservations of the 24 of Avgust come in to verity the others [ this by having tae marine therm »mneter going to the dep of thirty fathoms, and ay soon as i; brougat up warn water, hove 1o and mede the observation. The tri of the cold wali from Hatteras up, wiil be highly in irg and will lead to usciul praccical reanite if it ia permanent. And can {; be o harwise? [¢ wili aTord an excellent sea mark, and [ think.» near approash may be indicated by su-face temperatures, At all even's, a septa of thirty fathoms wil: ¢o i:, uale.s the stratam of warm wa'er deepens, owing to wind or the seasoa. Al- though we had worked pretty hard for the last three weeks, | hoped we might ne able to get another sesloa completed before returning to port. Lhe priesipal rev fon tr my abandoning this, ix that the che mone ens benin to differ, and Lam afrart to trust to thom too Long; added to this, @ gale spruug up on the ‘id, one of the most violent ones we encounter d. [t was from toe caste ward, against the carreat, and we in the strongest pari of the stream, It blew veey hard, and we cams out of the stream at ‘the rate of ten wiles an tocr, uoder close rected topaails and reetad fere-ail.’” very of intrusive cold water in the midst of the hot water of the Gulf Stream, hich acened at firs: t> point to a divisiva of the stream, into two branches by a cold stream. His observations have d remarkaniy tha teat of subsequent rescarches, and with ail the improvements ince ot nine years in methods and fastram acs, his fa- vestigations of the Sandy Hook, Cupe May and Cave Henry sections, are admitted to be vha very best and most thorough of taose on recordin the suryay. Adapth cf 1,500 fathoms waa sit2posed 10 be reacid ia these soundings without finding bot'om, the te apera.uce be- ing 87 deg. Fahreahett, and 2.100 fathoms with a terage- rature of 40 deg. just bylow the axis of the Gutt Stream It was his zea for this work, the desie to meke two additional positions ia :eturciug to the coast, waich his iovestigstions snowel to b2 ue re3- sary, that exposed him to the hurricane of Sept. 8. 1843, in which bis vearel was neatly wrecked. aad he was swept from bec deck nevec to regain it. Ais coolness ia this terriole emergency ecablad hin to take such pre- cautions as ensared the safety of ths records of his o>- servaticns, and to perpetuate vis name ia coanes'ioa with the his‘ory of the Gulf Stream explorations. The work thus well began was contingsd in 1817 and 1848 by Lieuts.. Commanding S. ? Lovaud Richard Bache, aud with faithfulness and success. Che results of Lieu- tenant Gooey M. Bache were confirmed by their ooser- ‘ve'iors on the Cape Henry section, and valuable resalts wore obtained in :egard to the limits of aczuracy in ob- serving, and to the probable Hinit of chang» ia p sition of the parts of the stroam. To these resuite I +hall have vecasion to refec again. Lieatenant Bache had first the use ot a aicamer for ths work; not avery efficient one it is true, but a vessel which enabled bim in favorabla weather to matatain a desired couree, to manipulate readily with the ao indiog tine and give bim steam power to keep tho vessel in pod:ion aad ‘to reel up the line in experimenting. The 4 ‘of the Coas ae suspended those ex- plorations during the rext four years, and in 1833 they were vigorously renewed by the detail of two parties for their continuance—that of Lieu. The labors of his party we-e rewardet the discovery, on the Caarleston scctira, of two of hills beyond the main braash of the Gu'f3tream, and furnished the observations fcom which I have drawn the conclusion as to the connection ia met Rorten, of tha tribution of the warm and cold water. Lieut. Craven hed been en- gaged in A pey ag across from Ca; bag vig ugustine . Simons, Georgia. Upon the section, from Ly Reece he had made the discovery of sound- ings on the other side of tse Guif Stream, and had tracked the banks, or more properly range of hilis on the other nections, findirg the same results as Lieut. Maffitt, on Chartesvon sec'ion, within a few days atter the party Iieut. Maffi:t had determined them. To these offisers jointiy the discovery of this important and interesting ie avant be awarded, It is difficult to separate then Lieutenant Commanding Craven has since, wih great rkill and perseveran.e, re cxamiced the 8+. Simoas and Canaveral secrions. During the last summer ho carrisd sou from Cape Fords to Bomiat, pr. futipg one of thore fabulous ideas fa rogard to the bo’- tom of the sea, which vague cj ire had fics emitred ideas which would assign different g:neral physteal fea- tures to the surface cf the cath, above aai wader the water. Lieutenant Craven al-o fuand a+ 370 fa"homs, ia the straits of Florija, a temperacure of 36 deg. . Febrex heit, showing the existence of the Polarcarreat, boneath the warm water of the stream as low as lati ude 2624 de- grees North. In_ the course of so loug a series of exploat! in which 80 gq hes minds have deon emptoyel, the me hods, instruments, reesrds, indded all that pa~- tain to the work, rave been greaily imp-ored, and the whole is now refuced to scmpacative system ‘Lhe greater part of tho ortgiaal recorda, whea reduced to form, will be published through the (aera ite of Cm- ress, Dopumerts of the industry and tatelizance of tne ydrographie officers of the Coast Survay That this servize is one of no ema'l hardship an’ <iti- eulty may earily be conceived; tat it ts one of groat ex: posure, in the small veasele of the survey. acoessacily encour tering the most boisterous seas, may be realize 1 by the fact that the exploration 0° one part of the stiesm tits been attempted three times without sve sess, such rough weather set'ing in as to deprive oae offiase of the tastra- ments, and to damage ths enxiaes of the steam vesso!s in two other cases, so that thei: commanders *e-e obliged to put back; by the danger run by L out. Mafiitt in the steamer Legare, barely reaching port in nafe-y by in- tense exertion of officers and crew to keep tha{r vessol afloat; and by the sed disuster whica deprived the Coast Suevey and the Navy of the services of Ldvatonant George M. Bache, Tho daty is most hazardous, Success most gratitying. The deductions which 1 have made from time t> tims from the Coast Survey cbservations, and have presented to the exsmination of my scientific brethren, have oosnpied wany months at intervals, and will be published tu de. tail with the observations themselves. in the arraage- ment of this work and the conparison of results. in care: fa) invostigations and reductions, and in faltfal end akiltal traciog out of the J oogeer a on diagrams, I have derived much asriatance from Professor Peadieton, U. 8, N, to whom I desire here to make publie acknowledg- meni The diagrams in which the results are represonte1, and upon which it has been found convenient to stady them, are ofa simple form, On the ordi: chart, suc ae is now presented, are delineated the live of the sec:fon referred to the name of the nearest cape, or other well known ig Aged whicn it passes, and the ‘itions at which temperatures at different depths ve been ascertained. The law of chango of tomvera- ture with depth is) ahown by the next diagram in which the depths are figured at the and the tamperatares in degrees of Fahrenhcit’s rcale bas of temperature at the same depth and in diffsrent positions perature fs at the side, and the tions are plotte) in nautical miles from the coast at the top. In th ferent curves show the changes of temperatures at tho 8, Tising and falling on the diagram as the temperature rises and falls. The curves showiag the preg nnen at the surface, (0 fathoms, 100 fathoms, &:., are distinguished from cach other. The depths at which the temperatures are the same aro shown in tho-next cingram, which also serves to give the form of the bottom of the ses, where it hae been ascertained. The depths are writton at the side, and sho posi as before, at the top, the divtamoe from the const in nautical miles being Ra god by the acate, The curves for each five dogrecs of thermometer ace from each other. When marked soas to distinguish the results are by these diajrams they aro to be entered upon the general chart, upon which the section was already marked aad the pusition of ob. servation placod. This all seems vory plain, but not a little study has been expended to bring it into ao simple shape. the law of the change of temperature with depth is ox- pan more or leas perfectly, im all the observations, tho temperaturo ‘ascertained by observation as inthe diagram, ‘at the su: at twenty, fifty, one hundred. hundred, three hu: |, five hundred, ono fifteen hundred pe oe depths marked at the sides, the tem) ‘ture at the top, and vertical lines drawn 1 potote of temperature observation downwards untfl they reach these hy ing on the asale, the Intersections being marked and the curve drawn. This shows at once to ‘the law of change. ore are two clasnes of eurves which are easly typical of the cold current, (the polar current) ween the Gulf Stream and the coast, and in the Gulf ftsel’, Tho frst is shown on the first diagram, descen Ming almost vocti- cally from the surface, it ox; that the temperature presses Ghaages very little v9 Aye of ten fathoms; then rognding | flackeuiug a* it approaches the left it shows a moderate decrease of temperature to some ten Or tweat' fathoms, then rupp! ly cowards the Vertiral live on tke lei: of the ic’ corres- ponds ture of thirty-two Pahreakeit; ao ty degen: q Sip inihe pent thirty nurse Very rapt rate of decrease jure, ah a ite’ Ahs avery begins to ech that une very slowly. so thit bstween 200 and Bs aie ina it ta face te ut yw cegrees. The fret sortions of the curre are those where the wars mix, a ropes ef — distarbance, where, only under very ‘able cireums‘ances, | nicely rounded lines are tound, the worst possibie places to stucy the pbenowera, the rapicly parta of the curve vorrcep nt to the vverfvw of the Guf Steeam water which seeks the rides ag it flows onward, turning to the Coast on Ono side ond to the broad Atlaptis om the othor. ‘Abe i ised that water from the Gul; the cold wa- folowing at the bottom vf the se4, aud whic! when it aches Flouida has only a wmperature 87 to 40 deg., ix the polar current, slowly hosing up from the warmth above ft, aa it flows to the tropics. ‘The imtermeaiate portions may be idered as between two strata, ove of warm and the of cold water, and as slowly tranamitting the best dow award. Now, we know when heat is slowly transmitted down- word ‘in 8 maes cf fiuid by couduction, that ex the 6 increase in arithmeticsl pro- gression the temperatures decrease in geomet ical progreseln. The curve repre-entiog this logarichmic, and the number expressing the conduction of the fluid, is the modulus of the ey stem of logarithns I know thet scme doubt was thrown by sertain experi- ‘ments upon this law, but eally the beautiful results of Deepretz, by which it was proved, cu'd admit of no auudt. Li requizes pationce to verity, and care aad wall choxen proce-roa to get rid of sources of error feom the envelope of the liquid. These given, the lew comes out, ‘as ban beep pe@pved since the doubt was raised. ‘Here we bave upyn s beautiful scale, and with ample time for equilibriam to take place, the whole star told of conduction through a muss of salt water. The curves are from ‘a certata depth uamistaksoly logarithmic, und tbe observations thrown into the form for compating by the most impartial of me- theds, that krown to mathemattelans as the method of least squares, give reaults differing less than the unavoidable errors «f observation from those directly Observed, avd yioling, when the creme of several curves are anited, a modulos by which the condasting power muy be expressed. In thissiowiy moving ould car- Tent from the polar regions, eocking the bottom, as oeing the denser, capped by au overflow of the warmer tropieat water, you would expect to find jast such curves as thoxe which first rewulted trom the observations of Uavis, aod were confirmed by George Bache uni by his successors, Une feature ia these rerults, of considerable iaterest, 14 this: that they wore made py officers having 1 special hypothesis ; “collecting data from which hypotheses might be made, copfirmad or refuted, fully convineed, no doubt, thatlaw would e»me out of frichful results, but not particularly iaterested im tne furm which it might prove to have. Feihfui laborers, it has ofsen strack me when disouwing these results, to laud them for maay ‘things, but vev-r more than for their strict wu'hfulness, ‘Time and »gain this law had been repeated, whea Lieut. Craven presented hie winter rosulte, wiih some dis- coursgement that they were so much less regular thao the suamer cnes. The form ot curve, as showa in che nex: diagram, gives nearly the same’ tompo-atare from ‘the suitnce down to 100 fa nome. If we reflect that at this season of the year the stream is rapidly cooling by the colder air, we shall understand this, ay the surface atrata sink os they are coolea, So tn some of Licut. Mefiti’s resuits there were trrogu- laziies which marked the coollag action on the surface of the ntr nd even a temporary shifting of the upper snd lower strata, with reapect to each otber, If the winter season hat been the one chosen for our first experiment, the navigators would have cncounterea many diftcultics and mo; with swall reward. If those resules be compared with thy elaborate obsor- vations of Professor Forbaa and Mf. Quetalet for the de- termination of the law of chsnze of tempe-a‘ure ia the ca:th. wiil more confidenes will be ia:ptred by them; for we have iu these latter, differences reaultiag irom the nature of the case itself mach larger thsn that pre- sented by the results <f the Coast Survey officers, Tho advantege ot the fluid medium in adjustiag itself rapitly tu changes of temporatuce ty thus clearly maniteste t. Tho uex: type curve is tha: which belongs te ion below wie exis of the Galf Stream, and is showala the ext succceding diagram, It has ube same featuces of ‘Ube nearly verticnl scraight line, and the short curve, like an axe of a sixth of & ciccumterence, as the other, and it begins to approach the vertical axis on the latt haad butsiow!y, and pesses down to w depta of some three or four hundred fathoms be‘ore it curves {award with ra- pidity. The curve aimest at one time coiucties agsin wich a vertical straight live, giving a section which sppears in comparizen with ths others to huve a gentle sweil, then cnddenly turning towards the line of Low tem. peratures, it bgias to ussume the appcurance of the for- mercurve. It has reached the culd water. Nuw this form cf curve is not that whish correspords to equilt biium of temperatu e dy conduction, nor ought we t> tind such in the moving masy of guif water, which must cool cbiefy by mixture ot tho cooler strata {com the eurfase at ons part, and by mixture with the undsr current io apother, The torgue which we saw inthe inshore dia- gtems isin these wach tuickened, and the lower part is orep below the surface, Tie thinning off as we go to the shore is due to the thi off of the tropical waters on that sice, and is warked cuiefly as they overrun the polar current. On the other side they 01 low & comparative- Jy warm ocean. Althouga in a general sense it is thus easy to ree the divisions of the water, if we scrutinize it more clore’y to define the limi:s we shall find 1textreme- ly difficult to do wo. ‘The Ins: furm of type curve is that in the at-aits of Flo- rida iteel’, resembhiog tho projecting part, or tongue, as I have catled it, of the type carve iasuore from the Guilt Stream, und of the Guifizelf. This one m’ghihave been drawn from provious inductions, sucn as it is pre- seniea in the obsecvations made in 1864, by Licuteuant Commanding Craven, betweon Cape Florida and Bomiaia, Theso type ourves aro variously niodificd, aad tuere are others which seem’ in certain parts of the stream quite ty; ot their posit but which are fess gen- eral in application than those forms. The charges are easily under: tood, and I have sufficiently dwelt upon this part of the subject. I proceed, next, to consider what the cross section of the stream presents, taking up asa first point of reference the —- of the Sandy Hook section. [hs deep trough in which tne warm water ties, with Its,large pro- Jecting lip towards the Isnd, anda shor.er one towards ‘the ocean, are sufficiently marked. The curves show similar features at.er wo leave those near the surface. The mos; remarsable of these is tac eniden chaage of temperature, which in ten miles rises some fifteen deg ees so suddeply ‘hat in the diag-am of this, between the “old weil,” as Lieut. Bache callod it. itis almost vortical. ‘This same form prosonts itself to the greatest dopth of the soundings, namely four hunired fathoms, though diminishing in sharpness, rising at o moan about twenty degreea in fifty miles, at lesst seven degreos in Afty miles, so perfectly distiact ia ail the curves that its: determication upon an one would be promounced ratisfastory. When it ts recol- lected that the obeervation at cach depth isan inds- pendent ene, having no sonne:tion between tau; absve and that below it, tho induction is complete. The ov-r- flow of the Gulf water is distiac'ly shown by the curves of 5 and 10 fathoms, every Loe beirg above the tem- perature of 66 <¢. in ‘this section st these depths Passing from the Sanéy Hook section to tuat off Cape May and to that off Cape Geory, the same result shows ise't. Thore isa coid wall, as it were,cmMutag the water of the Gulf, The polar current passos along the shore, mocifying essenttaliy the climate of tho lend aad the character of the navigation of our coast, The warm wator cverlyiog this flows towards the const, roashlog is south of Cape Hatteras and sometimes north of ii, super- ficial in depth, bus sufficiog to impart warmth t> the thores ¥bich it reaches. Does thie cold well «xtend to the southern sections of the streom? and it so, how far’ I have drawn tne com- parative diagram of curves of temperature in the iatecior per's of the southorn sectiona, to prove that, though the difference of tom erature is less striking than to the north, it exists. The northwardly curren’, which must brivg this water, thus really flows along the coast, al- ways ot certain deptns, variable with the season and ¢ir- cumstance of wind and temperature, bat always the:c. Sometimes the warm water near the surfaxe bethes the fing” heoreecd as shown in the disgrams of tne rections south of Hatteras. ‘The cold wall is with tolerable certainty traced by ob- servations as far south os Cafiaveral. At times the soati- erly sot of this inaido cnrront 1a decided, as was the case ‘Meat. Maffitt’s observatiors off Charleston in June, i". This set of the curreat further north has beea long well established. Returring to the disgram of the Sandy Hook section, we sce that the curves rise aad fall in successive waves, dividing the area a¢ross which they pass into well mark spaces. That, ® rule, the jacumt curves conform ge into different shay which present contrasts ‘we regard those at many fathoms distance, as at one bundrea and five hundred fathoms for instance, but which, as shown by tho intermediate curves pass gra from one to the other. The law of division is best marked betweon twenty and two hundred fathoms. Fach position is independent of the furmer, as eash ob- servation in the position is independent, and ‘the re- hin they agroc., tuo next ingrat, that of Cape My, wi fl 4 nex! im, that of pe May, strengthens the former induction; then that ef Ca) evry still further confirms it. We sec, too, that t divieions into warm avd cold bands, whica are indicated on the Sandy Hock rection, are not arbitrary or ascivean- & le Soot bn is ee Mainly a pe etll more so on pe Treaty soe on, Their me the coast are such as to cmusct In each we soe & rapid rise of are, to the cold water about 100 miles, the width of first warm band is 6@ miles, of the first cool band 25 miles, of the second warm band 60 mites, making the widta of the Gulf S:ream Proper about 136'tnlles, | ne width of the second cold band is 66 miles, of the third warm band 76 miles, but indetni for the whole width of the warm waver 276 imiles in this section. I have thrown the others {ato the form of » smail {ablo, as foll ee Distances of the “Cold Wall” from the Shore, and the Widths of the Several Bands of Cold and Warm Water of the anya , n onthe Lincs of the Become == aetelsl Section, Ma PROD o peg === pg Peerees ieee ussusseses| il igsnesss| 1). sa8sss3| Tey pr ent a width of Gulf Stream twenty milee at Cape Florida ffty mil-s ot Sandy Ho k, and of waci ter at, cay af- teen fatsoms, of from thirty fo three hnad ed mile wide. These Pelaciped civiaime of ihr stream, ~ ro ete 1. Gane tn Or tenems, wuiaere We se, on the Chsrles‘on sectt in and the same teatares wath were dim! tagaci'y which discerned in thet” germs these rich trutts, ‘While we trace thas caro‘ull’, step by stop. we mast evn- sider bow far these results can be relicd capable of repreductlon—bow fur are nent or medera! dental, the resus Bis ge modes of bey = ing was connect a pre sedi one by ruuntag over the . fame section. We have thus the fact established that ‘the same divisions of the stream were obtained in succes- sive years, i nésd not remark that not ooly had the ob- Fervern no refercuce to the results of their predeceaors, vhewe bands ‘Variable, and how far altogether a .cl- * in the stream iteeif, vo bave two on wad from all cod aad ie upon asexect, or aball of errors of observiag of errota of summer to thts—first, each sories of observations Ki , | Gio ot the passege between | a the we pass is warm water. In April, miles, pear of tds 864. the difference of ‘ture in 160 Jy ofthe Balan, was on dares, The tem- ly perature of the outer water was 78 deg , and must admire the of the Gulf S’ream at this season of the year. We are alg aw to ooaes duce what is known current incidenta.ly. Vussing by the keys, the ve a temperature of absve the are of €xcept in posi ion, which they endosvored as far as con: ning throug Straits ot Florida and pe seer pst pone heed as he examina- | Passing the eastern coast o’ the peninsu'a tions of the results were first by myseli from the andthe Bavamas, it is turned northward by tue lead rough pores of the hydrographic officers, The tablein | which confines and cirects it. Tho directiun of the the diagram is asf. Lows:— belie haploid. fivaincbit! | as peppy Bem Tatle Showing the Protable Uncertainty in Delermination | \°C!'y vai rom three to five nautical oi'e per ho i, Qf the Maximum and atiniausn Points. and its summer ten (July and 8) at af 7 Uncertainty tm Milos, 2} {2} ep ele Bame of Section, Es} 5 Fk § F 52 BEE [oF 00) 3-94/7, eS 2 6411.67; —|4.03) 4 87 55}1 70) 1.96) 94) 342 5 6918.23) — —|2 98|3.40/13,37 209/240) .82) — 44) 55) —|) — The table shows that the seme results are reproduced in different seasons with less variati m thao those of the mon temperature of the s+c ions themselves. Cape Bevry section, which was run over three times. the yes ‘ns of the col) wall and of tho axts of the Galf ‘tream were repreduced within five miles and a haf of -the succeeding waximum and miniaua points withia the limits of eight mil-s. Now, as the positions at sea were liable to an uncertainty of some throo to five miles, this result must be held as proving conclusively tl geperal permanency of these divisions, and the posai- bility of cotermining them within very modera‘e limita from year to year. But it not only proves this, but the accuracy of the difterent observers. ‘Tha Cape Heary eectlon was run over by Lieutx. Geo. M. Bache, Kichard Bache and 8. P. Leo; tae Ha‘teras section by Lieuts. Richard Bache avd J N. Mafiitt; the Charleston section by Lfeuts, Moffitt and T. A. Craven. But there ix another te:t of the results, As each carve of temperature, ata given depth, is independent of any other, and cs a generel law is established by the comparison of the whole of the curves, that tne cold ‘wall and axis of the hottest water change their position from the surface to the depth of six huntred fathoms, siowly, end ty an ascertsined progrossion, and that the succording maximum and minimum poin's are at the sone dintonces from the sbore, or in a vertisal lice trom tho surface at all the citfeent depths, the relative po- sitions of these points (as shown by the observations at Qfferent éepuhs) become thus the test of the perm saensy of thei poritions, and ef the sccuraey with which the: bave been ascortained. These show that the cod wal ano axis maximum could be ascertaiued at the Cape Henry section to about ove mile, and the other poiats to rather more (ban two miles. ‘The test which they apply to the accurécy of the different observers, who used the same instruments, it woala be invidious to employ where ali « observations are 80 good. ‘Tried fa this way by obse tions below the aisturbiog influeace of sto-ms and ordi- nary meteorological changes of short daration, the per- maverce of these divisions, the fact that they can be as- certained wich certainty from year to year, the same or similar results being reproduced, that tho ‘resul's can he had by different ob-ervers aod with differeat instru- ments wi hin moderate limits, are conclusively proved. It Js quite iostrnetive that while the phenomena as re- lated to the axis of the Gulf Stream vary so litle, the tem perature of the sections themvelvex change so mucao from ycar to year. Thas the average temperature de- tween the tucface and four hundred fath ms, beyond or outside the cold wall on the Saudy (Hook sectioa {a 1840, was os high as that on the Cape Hoary and Cape Hotteras sec'ions in 1848, and ax on the Cave Fear soot on in 1863, and within a degree of the St. Agus’inc section in 1855, whip the Cpe Hatteras section in 1848 and 183 differed tro degrees. Again, the tvmperatare from the surface %0 thirty fatsoms, jasi below the axis of hotiest water on the a! Hook section in August, 1840, was oither above or as high os that on the Cauave- ral socticn in June, 1653. In general the Cape May sec- tion of 1846 and the mean of the Cape Henry section of 1846, 1847 aud 1848 are warmer at the same depths than ‘he sections south of it were in 1848 and 1863. ‘These resuits have only ia part been carefally seruti- nized, They serve to show that thore are great changes fn the mean temperature from year to year, from Fearon to seascn, The cornection of these with the-weather changes of the Gulf will no dcubt one day be made ont. Thay will be studied with, the cLangos of the season, of the g eat body of the stream, and by wind and stcri of the sur- face and near it, The <cepth at which the phenomena may ascertained with considerable certainty turns out be about twenty or thirty fathoms, and this is @ depth which can be reached withont Saas? by, a thermometer in a si caso, and Six’s self-rozis- tering thermometer. t the su1 gives in midst of a! its variations, at times, bly sults, ovr obrervations also clearly reasons! show, an rather than repel the cowparison of the means of many observations. eart There subdivisions ot tho stream serve to show how | see nothing in what violence vaviga’ors have differed so much in regard to its extent and temperature, and how they have been bailicdia cbanging position to find the temperature unconfurmable to their expectations. Cold water in the midst of the Gulf Stream has been set down moro than once even in the earlier voyager, but it hex been su posed an acct. | leads us trom the peaceful dra | mistabably tre and probaoiy | of teen tnthoras below tas rerfiat 14 apo — deg., With the searon. This is an intorosting secdon. Shows, instead of an unfuthomable gulf, wora by rosbing waters ot ‘his great stream, quite = deep peseage, with two stream: in j\—one to the north and the other slowly to the south, , Hical, the other as uomistakehty ita origin- the owec saving tuo bottom of the sea from the greac attrition ‘assumed for is by theorists. Follow now the couse of the s'ream as it bends in'o the bight between Cape Florida and Cape Hatteras. Recollect that cach one of these curves is the result of wany data, al independent; that the cold wall the axis, the sceond iniutmo 4 ancond, warm streams are four innependent sets tions; that the positions in eaca sve ion, Severs] sections, are results of independent o' that the resul 8 confirm each other remarkat oly in passing ‘rom the aurface to tue greatest deptha, but from po-irien fo position, and from section t> nea- tion. The stresm off Cape Canaveral bas a north wardty tet, and betecen that and St. Augustiue, vegios to tend to tho eastward cf north. The atream be:weea Bt. Augustine and Ha'teras taken the geoera! direction ot the const, making 5 deg. of esting in 4 of vor biog, curver to the nor:hward, snd thea 1uns eastward so 6 tc make about 3 deg. of casting in 8 deg. of nosthing. In the latitude of 88 deg., between Cape Churlos aud Cave Henlopen, it turus quiie eas‘wardly, haviog than # ve- locity of only een one and two miles an hour, That thir general sweep follows the coast under water, ‘the cast line,) the curve ofone hunirei fathrms, and ¢ hill ranges of Maffit’, Craven and Sands, seem in @ ee way fully toestablish. That it may ns modified y Otber circums‘ances ix not devied, but merely thas it is not determinea by them. The after progress of this mighty stream and of ite branches remain yet to be traced ws this part haa apd the varis'ivns from the general conditions presen by changs of reas~na, winds avd storms. These we may hope, unle-s the succes which bas hitherto attended these Lsbors be for the future demi-d them, accurately to determine, aud perhaps at some fa- ture day to present to your attention, 38 ‘ hire Oo). Shoffaer and the London limes. [Frem the London mes, Dec. 23.) Europe may fee! satisfied thet at length we have got upon the traces of the “Great Unkaown’’ who discharged the duties of literary assistant to Mr. Buraum with aush eminent success. Col. Tal P. Sbaffuer iv the man. It weuld be hord inde-d that be shouid be detrauded of lausels so justiy wen, but be may feel well assured thet We ail recognize the master mind and cunaiag hand which assisted in reariog cba atately superstructure of bis patron’s fortunes. Tuere is no evitence like iaterael evidence, after sll. ‘Testim ny may be fabricated —ato- rier may be forged; but it in only the same pen trat achieted the former triumyhs waish can produce qno- ther master piece cf the like kind. Our friend the Gu.ond has ben leave ‘ora time of the Feej-e Mermaid and the Wooils Horse—he bas abandored the preteu General Tom Thum> for # yet lo‘tier theme, From the service of Mr. Barnun he bas pawed into the service cf the Russian Czar, and we are bound io say tbat Alexander bas every reason to be satisfied with the new egent he has taken into hiv puy. Dr. Davege ‘Waa 3 poor creature, after ali. There wss no light end bade in his system of lying. He weat atruight enouga {his tacts, to be sure, but he did not stop to dil up out- lines—he bad no notion of delicacy in his coloitog—it was biycnd btm to produce en harmonisua whole. Be- tides, he committed ‘he ecormous blunder of permitting bimeel! to be. caugh: in # steamer some hundred miles away from febastop.lat the very time he was represent - ing himecit a8 there, burily occupied fa ndiialrtering eau ée-Col gne and perfur vd es-ences to the gallant mpered Muscovites. Colonel Shaffer has nxt—at ast, as yet—been caught out. He sieps out before the pubic ad an impartiel and intellizent traveller, who bisa spent some months in traverring the Russian empire im all dixections, and who fecls it « sacred duty to pan 0 the winds ot bis tevow citizens upon the a.tual dow ‘that vast territory. Not can be more delightful, nothing more Area- dian, nothing moro smiling, than the state of th se ena. wous provinces hich ¢ rather than tolecate, the mild sway of the Ruseisn r hearts of the mobles are melted witha sii!l aobler enthis'asm—the hearts of the serfs are vy toetlentiy euthusiasm which iy house. Constan'ine is withont ambition—the Em- ess is at the summit of human bliss. the simple ted diplomatists, with Nesselrode at their head, cam ts essing bat a monument of West em estern peridy, which fe sure wid. watel, ipon the beads of is contzivers, holy, holy Russia, will be holier than ever—the envy ama ‘the admiration of surrounding nations. Colonel Mbaffner deals with bis subject asa whole, He room of the Imporiad dental or spe occurrence, and not delonging to a pam [ig leasing seate of modles, who are re- geperal system. folved to perseve.e to the las: mnsket aud ast roude It may ‘be obacrved in passing that the different forms | —to the huts where the loyal serfs are yearning fo be of this discussion have rot given ecasibly diffecant re- sults. I commenced {t first by dis; curves ragts im which the curves were grouped, then had the ro- ly and moderately in numerical cotaiis, ‘the physical causes of these divisions of the Gulf Stream does not appear at the deptos which we have reached in the more northern sections, but in thatof | the R Charleston, as developed by Licuts. Mi snd in the m iouthern sections, latter numed officer, the some divis' causes: 7 ant Craven, woloped by the ns appear, and tae rame temperature are shown, we take up the same series of facts in regard to the distributi of tem. pevature which we examined defuvre, the warm water passing to greater Cepths aa we recede from the shore, rapidiy thiskening at the Gulf Stream proper, and slowly thin ipg ff again. When wo ropreseat the bottom of these southern sections, wo find that after sl ratcly from the shore it takes a sudden and qui‘e steap pitch, continuing at a copsiderable depth ia many cases below the limits cf the deepest soundings on the sestion, then rises to 8 considerabiec elevation to descend agaia, ond to rire ond deacend a socond time; that, in fact, we have two hills—one cue hundred miles from tue coast, with a nieep slope towards the Gulf Stream, and on the Goel side with @ slope of fifteen hundred feet in tweive milei height the stream, and three hundred feet with a bareof fifteen miles on the other side—ihe firat a bill rising certainly more then two thousand feet above the general surface below the Guf. On the next section to the south of this the same ranges appear, rising seve- rally five hundred and two hundved feet above the adja- cent vaileys, and s0 on; and whon we come ty trace them fom section to section, we find that they represent ranges ofhilis having s geveralparallelism wich the,coast, the distances inerearing from fif'y-tive and eighty miles off Cope Canaverai, in lati:ude 28 dog. 20 min.. to one hundred and one ‘hundsed and twenty-five miles of Cha: lee! in latitude SL “t 30 min. Thet the axis | Never were tbe plains of Russie so well ti! of the Gulf Stream keeps in the middle, or thereabouts, of the deep that the cold wail fs pearly over firat steep slope on the top of the first range of hills, the soeond warm band nearly over the recon the nec 1nd cold band 1 early over the second range of bills. Torniogagain to the rection we see that the cold strats of the polar current must lie in the depths of the first and wust rixe onthe flanks and over the tops ot the ut conforming ina eral wa: to the slopes of the bill sides and ‘valley @ depths; that this arrangement of the strate will give Jast such divisions as wo have found ia the stream. That the connection of the sections by ranges of hills | prepared three bridges—not one, as conforms strictly to nature, there could be na doubt from the numerous sections. Itwas @ most interesting result, however, obtained by Commander Sands ed north last sammer from tho Gulf of Mexico, to verify t by sounding on the first or ti tracing them from off 28 deg. 29 min. north, to off (ape Look ut, re he wan opliged to leave this interoating research to look after the security of his veeaol. The pro! of them. Turnirg to the second clave of sectional | they welzed abou disgrame, in which tho depths corresponding to the | bardment. pping mode- | coeced where Mr. Gladstove ‘uled. range ih pe Canaveral (pas. 8) taekiende rades, ane Ai 18 yet to bedetermined, | save a few rascally Grecks. who had attem wo enrolled under walrous grams of the separate | Colonel Shaffcer has visited Cron-tadt. It is im; st cifferent depths, next followed {sup by sve- | So many additional f.rfications have been constructed— they were scarcely gh ite Raburn Se can expect but disgrace and di-comfture shou. they be pairs Bye attempt any at'ack. The Russians bave takon all the oli cannon out acd mounted Dew ones in Places. As for Sweab: bardment cost the allies $26 000,000, w! -aKians did not exceed $150,000, No hood done save to a fow old Swedirh workshops, which the Rursians had intended, in any care, to remuve. The be- sieged were so completely at their ease throuchout, that , thoroughiy regardless of tne bom- Nicholaieff, too is impregnable; the Rassians “Inagh at the threats of tho allies t» take itas @ foolish, vate- rious boast.” We must not, iteppears, count apom ¢ financial emLarras:mects of Russia, for the expenses of the war have been cefiayed from the ordinary reve- nues ef the country. The Emperor Alexinder has suc- ri) “i baa of owes a tall toan effected since tne beginning of how! 5 bat this was not necessary, ‘or ae prevent the pubiic works of Kussia, unconnected wih the war, are carried on with uainterruptes vigor. Tae govorm- mnt fe actually expending c.f lions upon the erection of eccleiast cal edifices far more stately than aay which: St, Petersburg or Mo-cow een yet show. Aladaia, even, would be surprised at the splendor of the Ras- a second, with @ tlope of five hundred fect m | sian churches. “The very domes of some of thove and a base of twelve miles towards the axis of | are of gold, and the ornaments in the interior are of tho ame valuable material, avd many of them studded with diamonds and other precious atones.’* Surely, this is # litvle strong; but never miad, Colonel; jamb down the safety. valves end make creation scveam. “The yield of the eilver, gold, and platina mines this fear.bes exceeded that of any former year by $3 00,000. jb addition to this, ‘be gover: have forbid tho ex- portation of the precious me constant operation night and da} e8 aa Current now as ever.’” 80 great « breadth of land manufactures, especially that of iron, in so the the shore. the first cold band nearly | condition. To crown all, Col Tal. P. Shaffner bi away with bim from Raseia ramples of laces and articles of ladies’ dressos, made by serf women during their hours of liesuro in their happy homes. We have been ss entirely misin‘ormed as te the effeet produced by our operations as we been with retcrence to the actaal condition of the coun- ty. At 3weaborg we assisted the Russians to move some old tumbledown buildings. The evacuation of the south aide of Sebastopol was of most trifling moment. sians bad long contemplated such a movement, j a EF f il suppored—in order to carry it into comtort and ease, It is quite an they did not carry awey their wounded. ‘across over and over when the town session of the allies, and carried off thelr deapite of the Freneh and English. losers at t have ever been the s' of the best circles at St. Petersburg. iil F fae te if researches now in progress, how far north this re ‘an exorbitant price for their corn from the Russian gov- ary aaa toe nestion is yet to be answered whether erpment. That goveroment, however, deult with thew their structure, which deterniines the diatrfoution of cold | ina es of beneficent contempt, The Czar would not ard warm water on these southern soctions, still o-mti- to defend thom, but he set apart s sum of nnea porthward, 0 is still the determizing cause of the | money, he handed over to the Groeks to enable distribution; whether the in temperature from | them to block up the chenzel. section to rection are due in any part to elevations | _ Notbing oould be more truly ludicrous than the result. and depressions along the axis—whether the ripples ob- pr se Aa vessels filied with hoes be aad served” in cortaty fecalitien ave comnccted with them, traders dled the vessel with pond, which was Theeo, and a crowd of sipposiiions which the loarned | course, away by the current. When wes Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution would class Fnowe ast, Peterrburg the Gaur covld ‘noare contain “ unverified speculations,” crowd upsa the miad, and it pianrelf tor longhtoge—ond ihe Contin, bette Sere oes ae are tue tae | cucadesianye Geel et ‘i " Tae ae ee not materiel, falls us, Ferdinand Mendes Pinte ‘These things must neccssari| side of ily ome out of a proper course of experiments, and it 1; not good to indulg» in an. bene Alaa farther than is noseemary for in invostigatien, The sudden falling off of the slo the shore, is a Ne ot timber, thorn oxtremity of Cape Cod and Cape pag Oey gly ae Moy, a iho Staves ot 206 malls fromthe entrance'ot | scene. How far he has nucceeved, 1+ must be foe hie fs Stu et Scie, tat in Ss tae ates | ne t. in woot which have beon sovinded botw oom Cape Fear nat Care |. Nsw JUDICIAL Disraicr —At the General Term Florida, If the cold wall is connected with the sudden | of the Supreme are Ad atop slope om the southern sections, why not on the | question of 1 Se weer. northern, where we do not find snch & con: sus, wes agi ee ae A. Beach, faq. of The onswer ie not disienlt, but al ft shows how aan. | yoonted jhe {mation of © dletriet te ‘be pompontied : generalizing, since » Sarai attecnpt wo make to tronstor, the geummatianinn 0 tee | ay, 0088 ‘Yas drawn’ up te the Lagialavare im. Sys ‘a Coorvanta Sal Comticlie ‘Sands capinapaien =: ec ‘ont ol ions Ee zh thas compara ively cold water ie to ve found in the Lieut. Hartenff, U. 8. A., was wounded by the Florida, Guilt of Mexico im the bight betwocn the delta of the Mis- | Indians; nat billed, as expected,