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waters of the ocean. Thus the rain, fall of our southern and middle west- ern states consists mostly of waters from the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean sea. Similarly, the weather of our Pacific coast is born in the waters of the Pacific ocean, and the weather along the Atlantic coast of the United States is greatly influ- enced by the waters of the Atlantic. The deeper waters of the oceans also play an important part. In the summer.a strong current flows south- ward off our Pacific coast, swinging outward off California. As this cur- rent moves away from shore, the deeper waters which are very cold work their way up from the bottom and come to the surface along the coast. Consequently, off the coast of California, we find an area of cold salt water. The winds which blow off the Pacific ocean are warm and laden with moisture from the free evaporation of the waters. When this warm, wet wind strikes the cold water area along the coast, the air is chilled and the water vapor it con- tains is condensed in the form of fog. This is the explanation for the prevalence of fog on our Pacific coast in summer. Much of this fog is lost in the sea. When the wind strikes the land it becomes warm again and very dry because it has lost its moist- ure as fog. We see, therefore, that the upwelling of the cold bottom water on the coast of California causes the rainless cool summers of that state. The study of the waters of the ocean will in time yield results worth millions of dollars to the agriculture and industry of the nation because from these studies, considered in con- nection with the land elements, we can get a better understanding of the weather long in advance, particularly the periods of rainfall and drought and their duration. There is no in- dustry, no business, no amusement, no interest of any sort that does not rely to some extent upon the weather. ee (ins aammnn a Shane gan AUUDUNOYUNUIOUTUAUTVUTAETU TO TANNTT Observing Sta- tion of the Smithsonian In- stitution at Mt. Wilson, Calif., for Studying Solar Radiation and Other Physical Phe- NOMENA IUUUTLVUIUUULOOVDTATNHN NN We are just at the beginning of this science of forecasting weather long in advance. The mathematics and theory of weather have been studied with great success by the scientists of our weather bureau, the Smithsonian institution, and by in- dependent establishments, but this splendid mathematical structure finds only limited application because our knowledge of the physical condi- tions of the waters of the oceans is so incomplete. When we know as much about the waters of the oceans as we know of the land elements, we shall have the means of using our mathe- matical theories to practical advan- tage for predicting with certainty the weather that may be expected a year or two years from now for a given locality. Sir John Murray, the eminent oceanographer, is authority for the statement that the animal and plant resources of the oceans probably ex- ceeds those of the lands. There is a possibility of carrying on in the ocean something that might be called cubi- ANNUUUULUUUOUUNNNONUONU00O EOLA The Paths of Some West In- dian Hurri- canes Showing the Weather Born im the Sea Makes a Procession Over the Land AUUQILDUVUNIVOUNLOVNUYT VESTA MARINE REVIEw—May, 1932 cal agriculture, or farming in three dimensions. Where as on the land farming is limited to the surface, we have in the ocean’ farms piled on farms; 500 feet of them like the dif- ferent stories in a sky-scraper. Upon the muds of the sea depend its rich fertility. The basic life from these muds is not, of course, herbage, but huge swarms of microscopic or- ganisms, plants and animals. Among these huge swarms is perhaps the fundamental organic principle of the life in the sea. Step by step they feed the next larger organisms until, finally the fish we eat depend upon the mud. As an example, take the cod, a most important food fish. It exists only in cold water, where food is plentiful. The cod feeds on bottom seavengers, mostly crustaceans and echinoderms, which have previously consumed dead organic matter, pre- served in the cold waters as in an ice-box. So we see that the oceans make the earth liveable for man. The sea helps to distribute the heat of the sun, yet the circulation of the icy waters of the polar regions prevents the sun from baking the earth. Through evaporation of the surface waters, which later fall upon the land as rain, the sea makes agriculture pos- sible, and at the same time purifies the air we breathe. The sea enables plants to live upon the earth, for it is the beginning and end of all streams that pass through the land. In time these streams carry nourishment to the plants in the sea. The ocean yields a rich har- vest of food, for the catch in the fish- eries in the United States and Alaska is nearly three billion pounds of fish a year. It is the highway of navi- gation and unites the distant dwell- ing places and the different races of men. It is a wonder to the curious, a challenge to the daring, an inspira- tion to all. 13