the first witness from the interior will be the gulf stream, the most phenomenal stream of water known to the earth. this great outlet, authorities tell us, is the result of waters rushing around from the caribbean sea through the gulf of mexico and out through the strait of florida, thus giving force enough to be manifest for more than three thousand miles to the coast of ireland to give her the climate that christened her the emerald isle; from ireland and the british isles, its influence is felt to the coast of norway.
the water is much warmer than at other points after leaving the bahamas with different marine conditions, such as containing no jelly fish, or showing sparkling waters by night and being always avoided by the whales and other tenants that are in adjoining waters. it is also claimed by those who have sailed many times[29] through it that the color of the water is so different as to be quickly noticeable as vessels enter the stream. how such a stream can originate with such force in a reservoir like the atlantic, connected around through the caribbean sea and returning to itself, is as obscure to the writer’s mind as to how a man can succeed in lifting himself in a bushel basket. a man that can adopt this conclusion ought to apply his energies to developing a machine for perpetual motion.
the gulf stream is, no doubt, an enormous spring tainted with sulphur, like many of the springs in florida and up the coast as far as charleston, whose waters are warmed from the same influence as the gulf stream, from passing up through a deep strata heated by volcanic influences so common in central america. its sulphurous taint will account for the absence of whales and jelly fish in its waters, in which waters of similar nature fish are never found. this sulphurous condition may account for the stormy features that prevail along its course. it may be claimed that the waters would smell of sulphur so as to be detected, but such is not necessarily the case; from springs in florida that flow strong sulphurous water, many visitors will not drink at the spring, but after aërating an hour,[30] it will be drank at hotel tables and from water urns without a suspicion of its being sulphurous. the contact with salt water at the great depth from which the stream originates diminishes any odor before reaching the surface and quite likely imparts the noticeable change in color. the deep-sea soundings off the coast of bahama is another reason that the stream originates there. it is claimed to be almost impossible at the commencement of the stream to get reliable soundings, as evidently sounding leads would be sensibly affected by the powerful current of water flowing outward.
the next evidence offered is, where does the enormous amount of water come from to supply our lake systems? nearly all of the large lakes of the world are located in the highest parts. lake geneva 1,226 feet above the sea level, receives the muddy waters of the rhone, but has so much other inflow as a spring as to discharge its waters blue and clear. lake constance is 1,290 feet above the sea and 912 feet deep; the rhine rising at an elevation of 7,600 feet enters this lake. in 1770, the waters rose in one hour twenty feet above ordinary limit. it is said to contain twenty-five species of fish, including salmon. onega and ladoga are high from sea levels, and by canal, connect with some[31] of the headwaters of the volga. titicaca, 12,800 feet above the sea, 720 feet deep near the shore, and probably very deep in the middle, contains many islands and abounds in remains of peruvian architecture. superior, 627 feet above the sea and mean depth about 1,000 feet, never freezing over except about the shores, and presents a temperature of about 45 degrees.
these are only a few in different countries to which the position is universal, for both great bodies of fresh water as well as small ones, as the general impression with people is that lakes are usually in low lands, while the opposite is the true state.
how few people in this country ever thought of our great internal seas of fresh water, superior, huron, michigan, and ontario, being on the highest lands between the ocean and the rocky mountains, yet such is the case. from these great fountains flow the waters that plunge down niagara falls, while a larger portion, it is thought, has a subterranean outlet through lake ontario, and uniting with the niagara current to form the st. lawrence.
whence come these waters into those great lakes? they have no important rivers flowing in, and their waters are frequently highest in august and september when the country is commonly[32] suffering by drouth. if the supply were rain water, this whole surface would freeze, but spring water is exempt until well exposed to the air for some time. the lands about lake superior rise quite abruptly, and as you ascend the hills, and riding from ashland to duluth, will see hundreds of small lakes, and from two harbors north as you ascend for fifty miles you see the same state of things till you come to the divide within less than 100 miles, when the waters go west into the mississippi valley and north to hudson bay, and east and south to the atlantic. are these lakes supplied with rain and snows? if so, where does the water collect, and how does it get into this elevation? a subterranean river is supposed to run between superior and ontario, on account of similar fish being caught in each lake at particular seasons, but absent in ontario at other times.
the lakes named are only mentioned for their importance; we will now call attention to lakes universally. whoever reads this subject will be obliged to come to only one conclusion as to the general locality of lakes. take our adirondack region, with its thousands of pure, clear lakes hidden away among the rugged hills. the white mountain country where lakes abound. chautauqua on its elevated ground, mt. desert[33] in the ocean with its eagle lake and others 1,200 feet above the sea. lakes and living ponds, full of lilies, on block island. all through the mountains and wilds of maine, and so on in every state the same condition exists, till you get to the level and prairie states where upheavals are rare for producing lakes and springs.
if a reader will peruse in “picturesque america” the descriptive scenes on the french broad river and the wonders through delaware water gap, it is very doubtful if the various displays of waterfalls and profusion of springs and lakes will impress him with the idea that they are to be attributed to special rainfall in that locality. one particular evidence ought to be enough to dispel any such conclusion.
to quote from page 100: “as one of the wonders of the gap must be counted the marvelous lake upon tammany; a lake so singular that popular superstition has been tempted to add a final touch to its surpassing strangeness, and declare it has no bottom. as if in quaint climax to her wild work, nature, after riving the mountain to its very base, here places beside the chasm on the very apex of the lofty peak a peaceful lake.”
this feature of lakes could be extended indefinitely, but something must be said about the[34] smaller influences that produce them. every lake is but a mammoth spring, or reservoir of numerous springs that feed into its base. the provision by nature of this inexhaustible reservoir of fresh water is beyond doubt the most essential of any other bounty bestowed upon every living thing on earth’s surface. the principle of centrifugal motion and power is here developed to its highest advantage.
every man that has ever turned a grindstone at early morning to prepare a dull scythe for its day’s work, has no doubt observed the result of frequent pouring on of water. if he turned slow, it would drizzle off at the bottom, supposed to obey the law of gravitation; but if he turned just fast enough, he could keep about a pint of water on the surface of a stone four inches thick and two feet in diameter. increasing the speed results in throwing the water off in all directions.
if yarn or cloth wet from a tank or vat is put in a tub latticed outside and subjected to rapid revolutions, it can be thoroughly dried in a brief time. the process of separating cream from milk is done on the same principle by which butter can be made in ten minutes’ time from milking.
the familiar trick of whirling a pail of water[35] over one’s head, is complete proof in itself that water seeks the surface and center of motion, and that all these results are from centrifugal force. a funnel of large, or any capacity, filled and a plug at the bottom removed to admit its discharge, will evidence that motion at once forms a circle, and that the center is bare while the outside is full.
at this point it may be well to call attention to another feature in the river system. the water on the grindstone will give force to this suggestion. at a certain speed the water will tend to the outside of the stone; below speed required to do that, the tendency will be toward the center of the stone, or strictly toward the center of the earth’s motion.
now let us see what the river system says. look on your maps and see about where the common divide occurs, which is seemingly not far from the 50th parallel, where centrifugal force is apparently not strong enough to carry the waters toward the equator, and the principal waters flow toward symmes’s hole.
look on your maps.
on the 40th parallel sailors have what they call a roaring sea, which is approximately near the divide of waters, going either toward the poles or toward the equator.
