HOW THE SEA FLOWS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 221, 6 June 1918, Page 6

HOW THE SEA FLOWS

LECTURE AND A DEMONSTRATION. The astronomical section of Hie Philosophical Society nipt Inst night to hear a paper by Mr. A. W. Burrell, of Stratfoitl, on "Ocean Currents." Professor Sommerville presided. Mr. Burrell enunciated the proposition that the rotation of the earth was the dominating cause of ocean currents, and in support of his theory he had propared a model to demonstrate. It would be impossible, as he said, to,preserve the influence of gruvitv on water on ft globular or Remi-globulfii surface, and he showed -his experiment on n hemispherical projection, with the South Pole ns radius, thus preserving the gravitation influence on the watev fluid. His model was a tray with a lim or wall representing the equator, f There are physical reasons why the enuator may he considered a< a wall, which woi'i'd be difficult and laborious to explain, but reasons which, as he showed, were quite stroll!; mid sound. If there were no land musses the "wnll" would be a perfect, stoppage, but the existence of land masses does deflect some currents over Hie equator, making for some- slight errors in the demonstration.

In the model the land mnsses are represented by shaped pieces of wond. To show the movements of the wnler fine sawdust is sprinkled on the surface. Tin , circular tray, with the land mas?e.s fixer! and the water to the right level, is given counter clock-wise motion. The effect is astounding. It is an exact demonstration. All . the well-known Souther" Hemisphere currents 1 are see-n us clearly as on tho coloured maps in the geography books. the model and the lecture met with general commendation from the members of the society present.