I think it very probable that your correspondent Capt. Verney is right about the climate of Vancouver's Island. My only sources of information were maps of isothermals in Keith Johnston's and Phillips' Atlases, which show the mean temperature about the same as that of the south of England, while the winter temperature is shown as being decidedly colder, and it was to this I more especially referred. The mainland of British Columbia is undoubtedly colder than that of Western Europe, but Vancouver's Island itself and the adjacent sea may be really milder; and if so it is another proof of the great power of the returning Japan current.

    I shall be very glad of Prof. Haughton's criticisms on my hypothesis; and in the mean time will only say: 1. That unless Bournemouth is never cooled by north and north-east winds, any amelioration of the climate of the Polar regions would certainly benefit it. 2. That as by my hypothesis the entrance of two new gulf-streams into the Arctic Ocean would entirely prevent the formation of ice; the return currents that would undoubtedly be produced would not be cold currents in the sense in which they are now, as they would probably be always considerably above the freezing point.

Alfred R. Wallace.