It can, therefore, hardly be matter of doubt, that
great permanent currents, caused by the unequal heating of the
equatorial and polar regions, do exist in the higher strata of the
atmosphere--an inference which is supported not only by the occurrence
of the trade-winds and the monsoon, but by a variety of other facts
and observations.
'Thus, for instance, it is found that in the region of the
trade-winds, cinders from the craters of volcanoes, and other objects,
are carried through the higher regions of the air in a direction
exactly opposite to that in which the trade-wind itself is blowing
below; and in this way cinders from the Cosiguina, in Guatemala,
frequently fall in the streets of Kingston (Jamaica), lying to the
north-east of Guatemala. Similar facts have been observed at the Peak
of Teneriffe, in the Straits of Magellan, and elsewhere.
'The importance of this subject with regard to aero-locomotion can
hardly be overrated; for these currents, when clearly ascertained and
correctly mapped out, would constitute so many great natural routes,
where the aeronaut would be borne onward in the required direction
with immense velocity, and without danger of encountering squalls or
counter-currents.
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