686 



will probably pro ve, that Ihere is no little resemblance be- 

 tween Ibe algal vegetation of Nordland and that of the Færoes. 

 Kl een has expressed the same view (51, p. 6— 7, Note); but on the 

 other hånd, Kleen's descriptions are too brief and too few to 

 allow any final conclusion lo be drawn from them. Moreover his 

 statement (page 9) that »on steep, overhanging cliffs, in immediate 

 vicinity of the sea, no sorj; of luxuriant vegetation is found above 

 the lowest water mark, where mostly nothing but small tufts of 

 Ceramiiim acanthonotiim and Callithanmion arhnscnla occur« ^ is quite 

 incompatible with the luxuriant littoral vegetation of the Færoes. 



My investigations on the algal vegetation of the Færoes were 

 published in Danish in the spring of 1904, and the present issue 

 in English is based essentially on the Danish edition. My work 

 has been sharply attacked by Porsild and Simmons, to whose 

 criticisms I have already replied in the »Botaniska Notiser«. 

 Referring to these notices for particulars, I may briefly mention 

 here, that the main criticisms of these authors are directed against 

 my view, that it is quite possible, that the Færoese algal flora 

 may be transported over the sea to these islands. Thus, Porsild 

 maintains that it is a »physical impossibility« for algæ, for example, 

 to be carried from Ireland or the west coast of Scotland across 

 the Gulf Stream to the Færoes. In his opinion algæ from the west 

 coast of Norway, from the Shetlands, Orkneys and Scotland, must 

 be carried far into the Arctic Ocean before they could reach the 

 Færoes; a journey taking at least 3 years, probably more! Porsild 

 further maintains, that but few of the Færoese algæ can float; also, 

 that 26,7 ^/o of all the P^æroese species of algæ is what he calls 

 »strictly sublittoral«, meaning thereby those algæ which are never 

 found, in his opinion, so high up as low water mark, and which 

 therefore can never have the chance to fix themselves on floating 

 timber or the hke and thus be carried about in the sea. Finally, 

 12,4% according to Porsild are calcareous algæ, either living in 

 calcareous shells, or incrusting stones, etc. »These algæ can certainly 

 not float, and by far the majority of them are sublittoral forms, 

 which can also not fix themselves to stones or shells borne by algæ 

 which can float«. As to the biological conditions for the algæ d uring 

 their drift to the Færoes, Porsild maintains in opposition to my 



1 »På branta, ytterst mot hafvet belågna klippor saknas all rikarc vegetation 

 ofvenfor lågsta vattenmårket; och man tråffar derstådes vanllgen blott små tufvor 

 af Ceraminm acanthonotum och Callithamnion arbusciila:. 



