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Depth of the Ocean

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DEPTH OF THE OCEAN.—

For some years tide-observations have been made round the coasts of Ireland, for the purpose of discovering the various phenomena connected with the tides, currents, &c., and so facilitating navigation. Among the results obtained, there is one which at the first glance appears all but impossible. The Rev. Prof. Haughton, of the Royal Irish Academy, has been enabled, by ingenious calculations based on these tide-observations, to infer the depth of the ocean. One of his conclusions, omitting fractions, is eleven miles; the other, five miles. The first is the depth of the vast central channel, up which the great tidal wave rolls from the antarctic pole; the second is the mean depth of the whole Atlantic Ocean.

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