The Isthmus of Panama

THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. BY PROF. W. H. CHAMBERLIN OF THE BRIGHAM YOUNG COLLEGE, LOGAN. At the present time, when much is being said in regard to an Isthmian canal, something in regard to the place which the Isthmus of Panama occupies in the economy of our earth, is in order. Doubtless many have wondered at its existence, and have regarded it as an obstruction to commerce, compelling the circumnavigation of South America, in order to reach a point which otherwise might have been reached in a few hours. But the more the earth's surface is studied, the stronger grows the conviction that marked geopraphic features, such as this, are not accidents, but essential parts of a grand organic unity. Just as the sea and the deserts, protecting the fertile valley of the Nile, made a cradle for civilization in Egypt; just as the mountains of Macedonia and the lofty Alps, by protecting Greece and Italy from the invasion of barbarian hordes from the north, made possible the magnificent growth of civilization among the peoples of Greece and in the republic and empire of Rome; so the strip of land connecting the two Americas, with other remarkable geographic features between them, has, by developing the most remarkable ocean current in the world, the Gulf stream, provid- ing the United States, England and western Europe with their warm and moisture-laden winds, made possible that fuller develop- ment of civilization which the world now enjoys. The Gulf stream originates in two vast, wind-made currents of the Atlantic ocean, which, flowing parallel with the equator, approach the western continent. The southern current would be turned to the south along the coast of South America by the rota-

THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. 457 tion of the earth, were not the eastern corner of South America so placed as to divide the current and turn the larger portion to- ward the north. The portion thus turned aside is directed by the northern shores of South America into the Carribean sea. There, under the direct rays of the sun, and shut off, by a submarine range of mountains running from the West Indies to Trinidad, from the cold waters that prevail in all oceans at moderate depths, it is thoroughly warmed, as it piles up against the shores of Cen- tral America. It is a rise here of several feet above the ordinary level of the ocean, made possible by the existence of the narrow strip of land we are discussing, that forces the current through the strait between Yucatan and Cuba and into the Gulf of Mexico. There it piles up still higher while its temperature continues to in- crease. From that great reservoir, it can pass out through only one place, the strait between Florida and Cuba. This strait acts like the nozzle of a hose, concentrating the current and giving it a velocity of about four miles an hour. From this strait, the stream would naturally take a course to the southeast. But the North Atlantic current, mentioned above, having been forced along the West Indies, meets the Gulf stream in front of Florida strait and forces it around to the north, so that, after passing along the eastern shores of the United States with considerable swiftness, it proceeds under the influence of the prevailing westerly winds, and the earth's rotation, far to the north and east, until it strikes the shores of Europe. There it divides, one part going south; the other part, after bathing the shores of France and the British Isles, passes along the Scandinavian peninsula and is lost in the Arctic regions. The influence of the Gulf stream on the climate of these lands is more fully understood when we observe that England, with her delightful climate, is as far north as bleak and barren Labrador, and that the peninsula which has produced the hardy Scandinavian people lies in the same latitude as southern Greenland with its Arctic climate. Without the wonderful arrangement of lands and seas about the Gulf of Mexico, the North Atlantic ocean would have received the waters of a warm stream from the south, just as the North Pacific ocean now receives them; but it could not possibly have been so warm as the latter's Japan current, which, notwithstanding

458 IMPROVEMENT ERA. its warmth, is not able to make habitable the south Alaskan shores and islands, although these lie no farther north than Scotland and Denmark. We ought, then, to cease to wonder at such an apparent ob- struction as the Isthmus of Panama, and wonder at its narrow- ness, inviting, as it does, an application of man's powers and in- genuity to provide for the wants of a latter-day civilization, as the land connection has heretofore provided a means of communica- tion adequate to the needs of the peoples who have dwelt upon the western continent. The importance of the stream that warms the waters of the North Atlantic ocean can be still better appreciated when we con- sider the relationship of this ocean to the land areas of the earth. About one-fourth of the entire surface of the earth is land. Most of this land is embraced in the four great continents, Eurasia, North America, South America and Africa, which surround the North Atlantic to form the land hemisphere. The high mountains and plateaus of these four continents, without exception, are on the side furthest from the Atlantic; and they constitute a rim to bound the world, and to direct its attention to the North Atlantic. Any nation is thus caused to face all the others. A good relief map of the earth will make this clear. The high mountains and plateaus of Eurasia border the Pacific and the Indian oceans. The highest mountains of Africa border the Indian ocean, and the great rivers coming from them, such as the Nile and the Congo, carry the products of Africa easily into the Atlantic ocean. In South America the high Andes, being on the side farthest from the Atlantic, the rivers of the continent enter that ocean. The Orinoco and the great Amazon continually pour the products of that land into the North Atlantic. The products of North Ameri- ca are carried naturally into the same ocean, by its great navig- able rivers, the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence; while its high western mountains and plateaus turn the attention of the people toward the east. The rivers, bays and seas of Europe find natural outlet into the North Atlantic. The attention of the peoples of the far East are turned to the same ocean, and communication with it is rendered easy by the Suez canal. The West will yet have easy access to it through an Isthmian canal. This ocean, then, is, and of

THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. 459 necessity must remain, the most important means of communica- tion for the nations of the earth. Such an exchange of com- modities, of ideas, of sympathy, among the civilized nations of the earth, as we are familiar with, would be impossible without this great circulating medium, the North Atlantic. The Gulf stream supplies this medium with its heat. It is as a heart to the world. We should not be surprised, then, to see the marvelous arrange- ment of geographic features between the two Americas for the preparation of such a stream. While reflecting upon the unity set forth above, and the steady progress of civilization which has resulted from it, one is easily led to see great wisdom manifested in the placing of the spiritualizing influences which have operated like leaven in that civilization from its beginning until now. Civilization arose in Assyria and Egypt, countries located in the line of the heights that rim the eastern land area of the earth. In the land lying between these countries, in Palestine, the Creator revealed himself to Abraham and to his children. Between these two sources of civilization, divine truth vibrated for hundreds of years. Later, this same truth found easy access over the great sea to the peoples of Greece and Rome. Its influence operated upon the people of Europe, even until civilization had reached its greatest heights, with the great English people. In these last days, God again has shown himself to man, and has revealed the pure truth to a people living in the midst of the most vigorous branch of this same English people. Here in the United States, and among the mountains that rim on the west the land area of the earth, here in what was to the Patriarch Jacob the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills, God has set up an en- sign to the nations. Eastward the truth is working, and is pro- foundly influencing the ideas of the peoples of the world. Soon the Lord will restore His people to Jerusalem, and then, between Zion and Jerusalem through the whole earth, the truth will vibrate to and fro until all shall reverence the name of the Lord.