OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCHES—GRAVIER. apd 
ered that it was to their interest to know the physical condition of 
that sea and the biology of the fishes which are found there. They 
have divided up the immense task which is to be carried on jointly 
according to a program in which each nation has the share most 
suited to it. The investigations undertaken by all the parties have 
culminated in an imposing array of publications appearing under the 
titles: Rapports et Procés verbaux; Publications de circonstance. 
(Conseil permanent international pour l’exploration de la mer, Copen- 
hague.) 
TIT. 
From the point of view of purely oceanographic investigations, the 
Scandinavians, who have so courageously explored the Arctic regions, 
have shown themselves to be ardent enthusiasts. During the last 
15 years the Norwegians have especially distinguished themselves 
and their investigations have caused such a stir in the scientific world 
that we must summarize briefly the results. 
In 1895, Dr. J. Hjort, the distinguished director of the scientific 
fisheries service of Norway, mm his annual report called attention to 
the impossibility at that time of determining where the fishes live 
when they abandon the littoral waters. “‘No one,” he said, ‘‘ knows 
what becomes of the cod, the eel, the herring, or the mackerel, when 
they leave the shore waters. ‘This is a point in urgent need of inves- 
tigation. No nation is more interested than Norway in deciding the 
question, for excepting those of the coast of Séndmére (Aalesund), 
the fisheries are almost exclusively littoral, and the deep sea remains 
for the fishers of that country a virgin ground.” He emphasized the 
necessity of having a steamer well equipped to undertake careful 
investigations, based on the technical oceanographical knowledge so 
far acquired. The Norwegian Government was so much impressed 
by Hjort’s appeal that in July, 1900, the learned naturalist and his 
- collaborators were ready to make their first cruise on the Michael 
Sars, built in England after the plans of Hjort himself, the arrange- 
ment and equipment of which have served as a model for similar 
vessels. The practical utility of a technical study of the sea was 
quickly admitted among the Norwegian fishermen. I recall that in 
1908, when I was taking the very imstructive course of Meeresfor- 
schung (studies and investigations relative to the sea) instituted at 
Bergen, the president of the organization committee, a shipowner, on 
the day of the mauguration of the lectures, delivered an address 
which greatly impressed his cosmopolitan audience, and in which in 
its true light he described the service which oceanography had 
already rendered to the fisheries. 
To the lot of Norway, in the division made by the permanent 
council, fell the Norwegian Sea with its fjords; that is, the northern 
