428 REPORT OF THE COUNCIL. 



examined up to the present time have shown a high degree of 

 uniformity as regards the number of vertebra3, which is held to be 

 the best single index of racial peculiarities. 



C. FISHEEMEN'S RECORDS. 



These have been continued on the same lines as hitherto. The 

 number of returns provided by the fishermen during the past year 

 amounts to a total exceeding 5000, as under: — 



Smacks ... 1403 hauls. 

 Steamers ... 4006 „ 



Total 5409 



Section II.— HYDROGRAPHIC AND PLANKTON WORK 

 IN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL. 



During the past twelve months the quarterly cruises have been 

 carried out as usual, and a short extra cruise covering the south- 

 western stations was made in September, 1905. Samples have also 

 been obtained from lightships, from steamers crossing the English 

 Channel, and from Atlantic liners. 



The most strongly marked feature of the period has been: (1) a great 

 increase in the strength of the Gulf Stream off the south of New- 

 foundland in the summer of 1905, shown not only by the analyses of 

 the samples from this region, but also by actual observations by ofhcers 

 of liners ; and (2) a rise in the salinity of the Bristol Channel and the 

 western part of the English Channel, which was almost certainly con- 

 nected with, if not due to, the increased velocity of the Gulf Stream. 



During the period under consideration the conditions have varied 

 considerably, but at no time has there been observed any important 

 division into layers of different density. 



During the May cruise the larger part of the water in the western 

 half of the Channel was as high as 35-4 7co S., reaching 35-5 7oo S. a 

 short distance west of Ushant, and 35-6 7oo S. in the Bay of Biscay 

 just beyond the limits of the cruises. The 35-5 7oo isohaline, as shown 

 by samples analysed at Plymouth and at Copenhagen, ran in an 

 irregular course round the west coast of Ireland nearly to the latitude 

 of the Orkney Islands. 



