A Discourse touching the Current in the Straight of Gibraltar by Henry Shere and presented to the Earl of Ossery (Vice-Admiral Thomas Butler [1634-1680].
The discourse was completed at the latest by 1675 but not printed until 1703. Presumably this manuscript is one of those distributed by Shere to his friends (Pepys being one) and possible patrons. There are frequent variations between this manuscript and the printed version.
In 1675, Shere's observations were welcomed by the Royal Society as the solution to a problem which had baffled thinkers from the earliest times: why the level of the Mediterranean never rises in spite of currents from the Atlantic and the Black Sea, 150 disgorging rivers, not to mention rainfall. His theory, which turned out to be wrong, was the equilibrium of the Mediterranean was maintained by evaporation. However, his efforts to determine the rate of evaporation were original and valuable.
There is included a page of diagrams provided at the end of the discourse.
In 1675, Shere's observations were welcomed by the Royal Society as the solution to a problem which had baffled thinkers from the earliest times: why the level of the Mediterranean never rises in spite of currents from the Atlantic and the Black Sea, 150 disgorging rivers, not to mention rainfall. His theory, which turned out to be wrong, was the equilibrium of the Mediterranean was maintained by evaporation. However, his efforts to determine the rate of evaporation were original and valuable.
There is included a page of diagrams provided at the end of the discourse.