ch scientific
inquiry can be turned, even in its beginnings, is given by Maury. After
telling us of the existence and nature of a current in the ocean called
the Gulf Stream, he gives the following account of the manner in which
upon one occasion be made use of his theoretical knowledge.

In the month of December 1853, the fine steam-ship _San Francisco_
sailed from New York with a regiment of United States troops on board,
bound for California by way of Cape Horn. She was overtaken, while
crossing the Gulf Stream, by a gale of wind, in which she was dreadfully
crippled. Her decks were swept, and, by one single blow of those
terrible seas that the storms raise in the Gulf Stream, more than in any
other part of the Atlantic, one hundred and seventy-nine souls, officers
and soldiers, were washed overboard and drowned.

The day after this disaster she was seen by one vessel, and again, the
next day, December 26th, by another; but neither of them could render
her any assistance.

When these two vessels arrived in the United States and reported what
they had seen, the most painful apprehensions were entertained by
friends for the safety of those on board the steamer. Vessels were sent
out to search for and relieve her. But where should these vessels go?
Where should they look?

An appeal was made to know what light the system of researches carried
on at the National Observatory concerning winds and currents could throw
upon the subject.

The materials they had been discussing were examined, and a chart was
prepared to show the course of the Gulf Stream at that season of the
year. Two revenue cutters were then appointed to proceed to sea in
search of the steamer, and Maury was requested to "furnish them with
instructions."

It will be observed here that the gentleman thus appealed to was at the
time engaged in his study at Washington, utterly ignorant of all that
had occurred within the previous few weeks on the stormy Atlantic,
except through the reports brought thence by ships. These reports
furnished him with meagre data to proceed upon--simply that a crippled
steamer had been seen in a certain latitude and longitude on a
particular day.

But this information was sufficient for the practical man of science.
Proceeding upon the supposition that the steamer had been completely
disabled, he drew two lines on the chart to define the limits of her
drift. This his previous knowledge of the flow of the Gulf Strea