64 Vol. XLUr., Art. 1.— K. Yecdo: 



The other current, known as the Tartar Current, is less in- 

 fluential in comparison with the Tsushima Current. It has its 

 origin at the Strait of Tartary and runs south-w^estwards along 

 the continental shore. This stream has a lesser salinity and a 

 colder temperature as may bo easily understood from the fact that 

 Vladivostock harbour is closed up by thick ico during winter while 

 Otaru Harbour on the same latitude has never suffered from that 

 trouble. 



A certain amount of the watiT of the Pacific and of the 

 Ochotsk Sea flows into the Sea along the nortliern sides of the 

 Tsugaru Strait and the Soya Strait respectively. But these in- 

 flowings have little influence on the physical conditions of the Sea, 

 compared with the influence of the Jutland Current along the 

 Danish coast upon the Baltic Sea. 



The Tsushima Current which supplies, as it wore, the principal 

 part of the water of the Japan Sea is a branch of the Japan Current.. 

 The latter has its origin in the north equatorial current and is tropical 

 in its nature. As it travels north-eastward it deposits the spores 

 of the tropical algae on the coasts of southern Japan and also 

 carries the spores of the inhabitants of the latter further north- 

 wards. AI aria is neither a tropical nor a subtropical plant. The 

 Japan Current and its branch carry, therefore, ^/a?'/fl-lacking water 

 into the Japan Sea. 



The non-existence of Alaria in the Baltic Sea and the Japan 

 Sea may now be easily explained. The tw^o seas have no source 

 from which Alaria may be carried in, and they are not birth-places 

 of the plant. 



Alaria Pylaii Geev. wliich is an inhabitant of the north- 

 eastern coast of North America has been recorded, though with 

 some doubt, from Spitzbergen. Thus the species may be taken 



