l."7 



slight breeze from the west-south-west, and was found about a 

 yeai- afterwards (14th July, 1901) by Mr. M. J. Oliveira, a 

 Customs House Officer, on the coast of Pernambuco, South 

 America, having drifted a distance of more than ;:5,000 miles in 

 this time, or at the rate of over eight miles a day. Its great dis- 

 tance from land had doubtless kept it clear of the South 

 African coast until it got into the South Atlantic current, from 

 whence it probably was carried with the North Equatorial cur- 

 rent to the cost of South America. 



That a drifting object, say, a log of wood or trunk of a tree, 

 could be carried in such a comparatively short time from the 

 coast of South Africa to that of South America is a fact which 

 may throw some light on the geographical distribution of some 

 animals. The distribution of such a form as Peripatus, for in- 

 stance, could be accounted for on other grounds than those gener- 

 ally advanced, viz., the survival in widely separated regions of a 

 form once universal. In the belief of my friend, Dr. Purcell, 

 whom I have consulted, and who is well qualified to express an 

 opinion on the subject, it is quite possible that this animal 

 could survive such a journey, and from its habits is not un- 

 likely to be occasionally carried out to sea with the drift wood 

 from the rivers of Soutb Africa. What is ])ossible in a land 

 form, such as this, is of cnirse much more so in the case of 

 floating marine forms \\hich might be able to survive the various 

 changes of temperature experienced in the different regions 

 traversed. VV^e have shown reasons for believing that the 

 A gulhas Stream from the Indian Ocean reaches the region where 

 the bottle in question was set adrift, and from Avhich it was 

 carried to a region within ten degrees of the Equator, where 

 there are known to be currents passing into the northern 

 hemisphere. 



Nos. 161 and 164 are of interest, as they were cast adrift 

 within a comparatively short distance (about two miles), and 

 time (three hours) of each other, and were found at localities 

 about one hundred miles apart. No. 161 was put overboard at 

 8.25 a.m., when there was no wind ; No. 164 at 11.15 a.m., when 

 a very slight north-west wind had spi-ung up. Apparently, the 

 explanation is that by being about two miles further from the 

 shore at the start No. 164 was able to clear the projecting part 

 of the west coast. Any advantage to be gained by the north- 

 west breeze in clearing the coast would, of course, be gained by 

 No. 164. That this may not, however, be the explanation is 

 demonstrated by the course of bottles Nos. 149 and 150, which 

 were put over at the same time 1^ miles off Lion's Head, and 

 found on the shore near Table Bay, about three miles apart. 

 (Compare also Nos. .374. 405, 453, 461, 465, and 573, and the 

 numbers immediatelv follow inc each of thcm.i 



