FACT 1.--There is a constant but variable pressure of the atmosphere upon the surface of the earth and all the waters of the seas and lakes which lie upon and within it, and upon all the oceans which surround it.
PROOF.--The workings of an air-pump, and the readings of the barometer wherever experiments have been made. During storms at sea it has been found that the commotion is almost confined to the surface, and seldom extends to a hundred feet below: at which depth the water is always calm, except in the path of currents and local submarine peculiarities.
Concede as true – Noting that the reading of a barometer is an observation, not an experiment. Not sure what how water being calmer below the surface ‘proves’ anything about a constant but variable air pressure. But let’s explore the quotations:
But first, let’s see what the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science has to say about this:
http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/blog/2012/10/22/what-happens-underwater-during-a-hurricane/“Damaging currents can extend down to at least 300 feet below the surface, capable of dismantling coral reefs, relocating ship wrecks, breaking oil pipelines, and displacing huge volumes of sand on the seabed.”
So:
"It is amazing how superficial is the most terrible tempest; divers assure us that in the greatest storms calm water is found at the depth of 90 feet.” 1
Reference: 161:1 "Chambers’ [sic] Journals," No. 100, p. 379.”
A) The Chambers’s Journal was a 16-page weekly work of Victorian era fiction, this is like pulling quotes out the ‘Chronicles of Narnia’
B) There like six No 100, only 2 before 1881 and none seem to have this quoted on page 379 (probably because it was a 16 page weekly journal). The archived arranges them into volume and series, but still I can’t seem to find this on any page 379 of any volume containing No. 100.
C) “Divers assure us” = Anecdotal narrative that is not consistent with observable evidence.
"This motion of the surface of the sea is not perceptible to a great depth. In the strongest gale it is supposed not to extend beyond 72 feet below the surface; and at the depth of 90 feet, the sea is perfectly still." 1
Reference: 162:1 "Penny Cyclopœdia," Art. "Sea."
A) The Penny Cyclopœdia wasn’t even important enough to garner a Wikipedia page and Google barely even mentions it in passing. Probably another work of Victorian era fiction, but I was unable to verify the reference.
B) “it is supposed not to extend” = I’m supposed to get a raise every year, doesn’t mean that’s what actually happens.
"The people are under a great mistake who believe that the substance of the water moves to any considerable depth in a storm at sea. It is only the form or shadow which hurries along like a spirit, or like a thought over the countenance of the 'great deep,' at the rate of some forty miles an hour. Even when the 'Flying Dutchman' is abroad, the great mass of water continues undisturbed and nearly motionless a few feet below the surface." 2
162:2 "London Saturday Journal," p. 71, for August 8th, 1840:
A) Another work of Victorian era general interest magazine of short fiction and non-fiction pieces.
B) This quote cannot be found within (admittedly I didn’t kill myself trying though).
C) Because we should expect a tiny little boat to move a whole ocean?
"The unabraded appearance of the shells brought up from great depths, and the almost total absence of the mixture of any detritus from the sea, or foreign matter, suggest most forcibly the idea of perfect repose at the bottom of the deep sea." 3
162:3 "Physical Geography of the Sea," p. 265. By Lieut. Maury, U.S.
A) At least we finally reached a work of scientific value. Physical Geography of the Sea is rightfully regarded as the first textbook of modern oceanography and its author often called the "father of naval oceanography."
B) A good archive was available online at:
https://archive.org/stream/PhysicalGeographyOfTheSea/Physical%20Geography%20of%20the%20Sea#page/n263/mode/2upC) Unfortunately, this quote appears nowhere in the book.
There’s a nice poem. Not attributed and no reference provided, this commonly indicates an author’s own work. It’s nice that he wrote a poem.
So, after filtering out the garbage, we’re left with this [yes, air-pumps work].
FACT 1.--There is a constant but variable pressure of the atmosphere upon the surface of the earth and all the waters of the seas and lakes which lie upon and within it, and upon all the oceans which surround it.
PROOF.--The workings of an air-pump, and the readings of the barometer wherever experiments observations have been made.
FACT 2. Water is (except to a very small degree), incompressible.
PROOF. Globes of metal--of gold and silver, of lead and of iron, the last a large bomb-shell, have been filled with water, and subjected to the force of powerful hydraulic machinery, and in every instance it was found impossible to make them receive any appreciable addition. In some
p. 163
instances, when the hydraulic pressure became very great, the water, instead of exhibiting any signs of compression, was observed to ooze through the pores of the metal, and to appear on the outer surface like a fine dew or perspiration.
The fact is true. Non-gaseous fluids are not very compressible.
Wikipedia:
“The low compressibility of non-gases, and of water in particular, leads to their often being assumed as incompressible. The low compressibility of water means that even in the deep oceans at 4 km depth, where pressures are 40 MPa, there is only a 1.8% decrease in volume.
FACT 3. The atmospheric air is very elastic and greatly compressible.
PROOF. The condensation of air in the chamber of an air-gun; and numerous experiments with an air-pump, condensing syringe, and similar apparatus.
The fact is true. Gaseous fluids are generally compressible.
FACT 4. If a raft, a buoy, a ship, or any other structure which floats on the open sea, is carefully observed, it will be seen to have a gentle and regular fluctuating motion.
PROOF. However calm the water and the atmosphere, this gradual and alternate rising and falling of the floating mass will generally be visible to the naked eye. But a telescope (which magnifies motion as well as bulk) will show its existence invariably.
So, this is not true. Tell three truths then lie is a classic.
On perfectly calm water there will be no rise and fall of the floating mass. This can’t actually be proven either way though, because perfect calm at sea really doesn’t exist. In a controlled environment (called a laboratory) this would easy to validate at a smaller scale.
I wouldn’t call this a “gentle and regular fluctuating motion” :
Also what fluctuating motion are you talking about? Are you talking front to back, left to right or up and down? And what do ocean swells have to do with tides anyhow? And what is the period of this fluctuation?
FACT 4. Floating masses of different sizes and densities, being in the same waters, and acted upon by the .same influences, fluctuate with different velocities.
PROOF. Observation with the naked eye and with the telescope.
Aside from being Fact 4 - Volume 2, that’s ad hominem, but as a matter of humor, accidentally repeating a number is no big deal.
I concede Newton’s second law of motion holds true for floating masses.
FACT 6. The largest and heaviest floating masses fluctuate less rapidly than the smallest and lightest.
PROOF. Observation as above. A very striking illustration of the facts 4, 5, and 6, was observed by the author and many friends in Plymouth Bay, in the autumn of 1864. He had previously .delivered a course of lectures
Apparently we don’t get an Fact 5.
I concede Newton’s second law of motion holds true for floating masses.
I’d like to note that the ‘proofs’ on these suck. Telling me what I see is not proof, you need to tell me why this is what I see. An observation is not a proof. (If you doubt that, youtube some optical illusion videos).
FACT 7. Wherever the general pressure of the atmosphere is greatest or least, so are tides in the ocean less or greater than usual.
PROOF. The records of self-registering barometers in use in various parts of the world.
Blatantly false. Analysis of barometric pressure reveals no correlation to tidal heights. No references provide = none given.
FACT 8. The velocity of a flood-tide increases as it approaches land.
PROOF. Actual experiment. It is also a fact well known to sailors engaged in coasting service.
I concede Bernoulli's principles holds true for fluids.
FACT 9. If we go out in a boat with an ebb tide, we find the velocity decreasing as we leave the shores and channels, until we reach a certain point where the water is found to merely rise and fall but not to progress.
p. 165
PROOF. Actual experiment, often tried by, and well known to, pilots and masters of tug steamers.
I concede Bernoulli's principles holds true for fluids.
FACT 10. The times of ebb and flood tide at any given part are not regularly exact, often being from half-an-hour to one hour or more before and after the "Port Establishment time."