'Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, from September 1850 to June 1852. Edited by the Secretary. Volume X.' [‎109] (130/458)

SUBMARINE-CURRENT MEASURER.
C1X
held
nr y i
Hei
!lp n a(
' art « for damping!
ed an <* taken topi ec!!
the implement, 0 ]
and 5 across, wii
(^hen lowered dowDls
ire hole was cut in I
the reach of theeiij
idow ventilator, or ti>
ints to avoid friction;
wheel of sixty teeli,
■heel it turned twoii
d at the extremity E,
1 next to the cylinte
‘ the compass clampi‘
clamp and madefiS
lamped the fly. ®
very six
jh as mi
liberated and permitted to revolve by the force of the current for the space of a minute, when
the latch by its own weight vi ith a sufficiency of leverage pulled out the wire a quarter of inch or-
8 o, sufficiently for to re-engage and stop the fly. On the whole being raised to the surface for
inspection, the needle at once indicated the direction of the current, while its velocity was shown
by the number of revolutions made by the fly as shown on the limb of the toothed wheel. These
were marked off in figures, it having been before-hand ascertained from experiment how many
revolutions in a minute indicated a mile an hour. There was no reason to doubt that in many
cases, there were at the mouths of large inland seas successive sets of currents down from the
surface moving in different directions and often altogether opposite to those above. By means
of the present contrivance, all the peculiarities of these might be detected with the utmost facility.
The currents just outside the Straits of Babelmandeb, as well as those at the debouchure of the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , were the most violent, complex, and perplexing, that could be imagined. There
seemed no reason to doubt that this in a great measure arose from a constant influx of water
from the outer ocean to compensate the enormous w^aste from evaporation, and the incessant
efflux from below of water rendered heavy by concentration, hastening to mingle with those
portions of the sea the monsoon had diluted.
I H
These doctrines were first broached before the Society in 1849 and ’50—they were embodied
in their report for the year, and enlarged on in two papers in the ninth volume of their
Transactions. They had been cited by Sir C. Lyell in his “ Manual,” and warmly commended
by Mr. Maury, as embodying views closely coinciding with those he had himself about this
time enunciated. It was to be hoped that much new light would be thrown by the Current
machine on the facts on which these opinions were based. The original instrument was the
P’operty of Government, at whose expense it had been made up: the present was intended for
H. M.’s Admiralty ; and a third was in readiness for the use of the American Government, of
t