Af hvad vi hidtil vide om det Hav. som omgiver 

 Norges Kyster, kunne vi erkjende, at det er dette Hav. 

 hvem vort Land skylder sin Existents som beboet og som 

 eiviliseret Land. Gaar man til de samme Breddegrader 

 i Asien eller Amerika, træffer man kun Is-Ørkener. der 

 sparsomt beboes af nomadiske Folkestammer. Det milde 

 Klima. somiNorge gjør Landbruget, vor rigtigste Nærings- 

 vej. mulig, skyldes det varme Hav. som beskyller vmv 

 Kyster! Dette Havs Varme er ikke indskrænket til Over- 

 dåden : i saa Fald vikle dets Varmekraft snart være for- 

 brugt under den lange Vinter: men. som anført, rindes paa 

 Kystens Banker og Fjordenes Dyb varmt Vand, der gjen- 

 nem den lange Vinter, naar- den koldere Luft stadig trækker 

 Varme fra det varmere Vand. er det Reservoir eller den Ovn, 

 som stadig forsyner- Luften med Varme, og hvis Varme- 

 mengde er saa stor. at den holder ud den strengeste Vinter 

 uden at tabe noget merkeligt af sin Varmeevne. Udenfor 

 Bankerne have vi i Dybet Ishavets ■ iskolde Vande, der 

 fylde Færo- Shetlands-Rendens nederste Halvdel. Mod 

 disses Indtrængen til Landet danne Bankerne den beskyt- 

 tende Vold. de holde de iskolde Vande langt borte fra 

 Kysten og hindre dem fra at trænge ind i vore Fjordes 

 Dyb. Uden _ disse Banker skulde vi visselig i Norge have 

 Grønlands Klima. Bankernes Udstrækning mod Vest eller 

 Nordvest er saaledes en capitalSag for liele vor Tilværelse 

 ' — men hidtil er den os ganske ubekjeiidt. De varme 

 Vande, der flyde nordover fra Atlanterhavet, have en stadig 

 Tendents til at gaa til hojre. altsaa til at kaste sig ind paa 

 Europas Vestkyst. • Her mode ile vore Banker, over hvilke 

 de flyde. Denne Omstændighed er af den største Betyd- 

 ning. Thi Exempler fra andre Steder, f. Ex. fra Færo- 

 Shetland-Renden. vise. at hvor de varme Vande flyde over 

 et Underlag at" iskoldt Vand. foregaar der fra dette en 

 ^terk Afkjøling. der endog naar til Overfladen. og saaledes 

 bidrager til at gjøre Klimatet koldere. Men hvor det 

 varme Vand Hyder over en Landbund. der tjener denne 

 til at bevare dets Varme i lauge Strækninger. Det skyldes 

 derfor vore Bankers Udstrækning. at Atlanterhavets varme 

 Vande uden nogen sterk Afkjøling kunne omslynge vore 

 Kyster helt op til Grændsen mod Rusland og videre. Den 

 Udholdenhed. som det varme Vand har til at modstaa 

 Vinterens Strenghed. beror foruden paa Landbundens, det 

 er Bankernes. Udstrækning ogsaa paa deres Dybde — men der- 

 om have vi ikke Kundskab uden for den smale Rands Ved- 

 kommende, som de senere Aars Dyblodninger langs Kysten 

 har skaffet os - Kundskab om. 



fchejr Dperation, — and rifially. concerning the phenomena 

 of terrestrial magnetism, which, bearing as they do alike 

 on science generally and on practical navigation, .-n-e of 

 peculiar significance. 



From the facts as yet determined respecting the sea 

 th.it laves our shores. we may safely assume, that to its 

 waters is Norway indebted for her existence as a habitable 

 and civilised country. In Asia and America, the land 

 uitliin the same parallels of latitude constitutes a vasi icy 

 waste, thinly peopled by nomade tribes. The mild climate 

 of Norway, indispensable for the prosecution of agriculture. 

 whereby the great hulk of the population subsists, depends 

 mainly upon the high temperature of the sea surrounding 

 our coast. The heat given off by the water is not de- 

 rived exclusively from the sm-face: were such the case. its 

 source would soon be exhausted during the kmg northern 

 winter; hut. as previously stated. water of a high tempera- 

 ture is found on the banks and in the depths of the fjords, 

 which. throughout the long winter. when the cold air is 

 incessantly drawing off heat from the sea. constitutes. so 

 to speak. a reservoir whence the atmosphere is supplied 

 with heat: and the aniount in store is much too great 

 to admit of being sensibly reduced by the longest and most 

 rigorous of winters. Without the banks, we have the cold 

 water from the Arctic Ocean, filling the lower half of the 

 channel between the Færoe and the Shetland Islands. Now. 

 it is these banks that form a protective barrier, effectually 

 pre venting the cold water from forring a passage to the 

 coast. and from mingling its waters with those in the depths 

 of our fjords. Deprived of these banks. Norway would 

 assuredly have the climate of Greenland. Hence their 

 extent in a westerly or north-westerly direction is a 

 question of vital importance to the people of Norway, 

 yet concerning which we have at present everything to learn. 

 On its northward course. there is a mai - ked tendency in the 

 w arm Atlantic water to keep . to the right and bank up 

 against the western coast of Europe. Here it reaches our 

 banks, over which it passes. But this is a most important 

 fact; for whenever a warin current flows over a substratum of 

 cold water, as is the case in the channel extending between 

 the Shetlands and the Færoe Islands, it parts with a consider- 

 able portion of its heat. being cooled up to the surface. and 

 thus contributes towards.the severity of the climate: but 

 where the warm water fiows directly over the -bottom, it 

 will retain its heat for a very considerable distance. Hence 

 it is the magnitude and extent of our banks that enables 

 the warm water of the Atlantic, without being deprived of 

 any great amount of heat. to compass our shores as tar 

 north as. nav farther than. the Russian frontier. The 

 tenacity evinced by this water in retaining its high tem- 

 perature. how intense and protracted soever may be the 

 cold. is. due. not only to its flowing for a long distance in 

 inimediate contact with the bottom, or to the extent of the 

 banks, but likewise to the depth in those localities. As 

 régards these conditions. however. all that we know has 

 reference solely to the narrow belt along the coast in which 

 of late vears soundings have been tåken. 



