818 



is siich a well-known fad, and il has so often been proved, that 

 sea-algæ are capable of floating far out lo sea, thai furlher (hscus- 

 sion of the malter is scarcely needed*; neverlheless I niay iUuslrale 

 this by some examples. 



A great many algæ are washed ashore on the sandy and there- 

 fore in many piaces barren west coast of Jiitland. Dr. L. Kolde- 

 rup Rosen vinge has recently staled at the »Botaniske F'orening«, 

 that about 40 species have hitherto been washed ashore there; se- 

 veral of these species do not grow on the west coast of Jutland, 

 some of them not in all Denmark. Among these algæ some per- 

 fectly well-preserved, fruit-bearing specimens are found, e. g. of Hi- 

 manihalia lorea, which must be supposed lo have been carried 

 probably from the English coast. 



I do not know for certain, whether there are algæ which are not 

 air-inflated and yet able to drift or perhaps only hang suspended in 

 the water for some lenglh of time; but I am inclined to believe that 

 such algæ do exist, some however sink down quickly, some even 

 very quickly e. g. Fiicus serratns. Il seems, however, very probable, 

 that several fdiform and much ramified algæ must be able to float 

 for a long time in the sea. Dr. Jobs. Schmidt for instance informs 

 me, that he has mel with species of Ectocarpiis and other higher 

 forms of algæ floating near the surface of the sea east of Iceland. 

 In this connection I may also mention, that Hessel man (Bol. No- 

 liser, 1897) found, in addition to some larger algæ (Chorda fihim, 

 Fiiciis vesiculosiis and Enteromorpha intestinalis) also some smaller 

 forms, which unfortunately are not named, in Nortålge skårgård 

 amongst drift. And in »Bolanische Untersuchungen der Pomme- 

 rania-Expedition« vom 3. bis 24. August 1871, p. 77, Magnus de- 

 clares that at a distance of 4 miles from the east coast of Gotland 



^ I may fiirther mention a few examples: GcUdiiim cartilagineitm from the 

 Southern part of the Atlantic has been washed ashore on the coast of Scot- 

 land), it is therefore also mentioned in earlj^ botanical works c. g. Edmonston: 

 Flora of Shetland), and on the coast of Norway, whcre it was found for instance 

 by Giinnerus (comp. Se man der: Den skandinaviske vegetationens spridnings- 

 biologi, Upsala 1901, p. 120). The American Laminaria longicniris has an inflated 

 stalk, by aid of which it can be carried a long distance; it has been found for 

 instance on the west coast of Jutland, at Hohuslån and Finmark (comp. Sernander 

 1. c). Still it is not excluded. that some of these inflated stipes of Laminaria, if 

 not all, which have been found, came from the Færoes or Iceland, as Laminaria 

 færoensis which grows there has similar inflated stipes. though without mucous can- 

 als. Fossibly it might, however, be the American species which has been carried 

 across the Atlantic. If that is so, the immigration of algæ from America to the 

 Færoes is certainiv not excluded. 



