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Captain Maury In London

Captain Maury In London image
Parent Issue
Day
28
Month
December
Year
1860
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

On Monday evening, the 26th, the arge room at Burhntou House, in which he Geographical Society hold their mcotngs, was ciowded to hear a communication from Captain Maury, of the United States, on the physical geography of the Antarctio regions. The President (Lord Ashburton) oecupied the chair ; and, before the business appropriated for the evening commenced, he mentioned that another letter had been reeeived from Captain Speke, who is endeavoring to reach the sources of the Nile, aud he stated that the Geographieal Society were so mueh impressed with the importanco of sending an armed expedition to assist and protect Captain Speke from the hostile tribes in the north of África that the Council had, oontrary to their usual cus tom, contributed L100 for that purpose, and the Foreign Office had coutributed a similar amount. It was hoped, therefore, that these sums, added to the private subscriptions, would euable Mr. Consul Petherick to start on his proposed route. Captain Maury was heartily greeted when he carne forward to address the meeting, which he did in a forcible manuer, and only occasionally referred to his notes. He eommeuced by notic.ng the Nautical Congress at Brussels in 1853, at which a plan of observations was dotermined on by the representatives of England, the United States, Holland, Franoe, and Russia; and, in accordauce with that plan, instruotions were given to the commanderi of the ships of those nations to make observations in all latitudes. The reault had been the collection of upward of a million observations on the currents of the ocean, the direction of the windi, the teniperature, the height of the barometer, and other meteorológica! phenomena, the whole of which Capt. Maury undertook to discuss, and some of the result of which he described. He stated that in pursuing the investigation of the pbysical geography of the sea, the iuquirer is led into the examina tion of phenomena connected with variou sciences, which he must pursue to arrive at satisfactory conclusioris. The points to which he especially direojed the atten tion of the meeting were the direction and variations of the trade winds north and souttoithe equator, and the differ ence iu the temperature and in the heigh of the barometer The ruuch larger pro portion of water iu the southern hemis phere is sufficieut to account for it warmer temperature, and (Japt. Maur; accordingly supposes the effect to be pro ducod by the greater fall of rain observec in the south. Taking bands of latitudefive miles wid from the equator, he fouud that on th south the direction of the wind in th bands neareet the equatcr was more south erly thau in the bands more remote, un til, on arriving at touth latitude, betwoen 35 deg. and 40 deg., the wind during half the year was sjutherly, and for the otlier half northerly. Ou the Coast of Patagonia the annual fall of rain, if estimated from the obgerved fall during forty-one days, must be nearly 12 feet, instead of 2 feet, as m the neighborhood of London; and this great condeusation of the vapor, he assumes, causea it to part with its latent heat, and warm the atmosphere. The lowest state of the barometer in the Southern hemisphere he did not attempt to explain, but conteuted himself with ruentioning the fact that the avenige of a vastnumber of obseryations shows that the mean height of the barometer is half an inch less than north of the equator. - Beyond 50 degrees south the wind blows generally toward the pole, and this regular current. Anothor curious fact il that the wind is much stronger in the south than in the north. The frequent appearaace of large icebergs in the Antaretic Seas indicates that there must be land there, for icebergs are Dever formed at sea; ard he called on the Koyal Geographical Society to promote eiplorations to the south pole, irhich inight open importaut renources. - He said that the región to be explored, of which we now know no more than of the moon, is only ten days' stcam from Australia; and it' this country did not shortly undertake to investigate the hiddtw treasures of the Antartic circle, the United f?tatcf= would "po ahead." ■ ' v i Adniiral Fitaroy eulogisod Captain Maury's exertions iu promoting tüo kuowledge of the physical gaography of tho sea. After aome observations of tbo President, thanks wcro voted to Capt. Maury,

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Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus