OCEANOGRAPHY OF SEA OF GREENLAND—DAMAS, 383 
conclusion to which all those have been led who have studied the 
terrestrial zoological geography. The action of the currents of the 
Sea of Greenland reveals itself only in the distribution of the three 
following groups of pelagic organisms. 
First. The species which do not breed in the Sea of Greenland, but 
which are introduced by exotic currents. The most typical are the 
Atlantic forms transported by the Gulf Stream, of which the influ- 
ence can be well recognized in this way as far as the latitude of 
Spitzbergen. 
Second. The species which breed only upon the continental plat- 
form, but which are transported far and wide and dispersed by the 
currents. They indicate, consequently, the influence of waters which 
have been at some time in contact with the coast. These forms 
appear periodically, and the season of their swarming is often very 
short. Therefore, one can, by their progressive extension, form an 
exact idea of the rapidity of the movement of the waters. These 
coast species (still called néritiques) are different in four parts of 
the continental platform bordering the Sea of Greenland. There 
results from it that these may serve as indicators to determine the 
zone of influence of the coast waters which have touched Norway, 
Spitzbergen, east coast of Greenland, or the island of Jan Mayen. 
Third. Finally, however feeble may be the variations of tem- 
perature and salinity of this sea, they do not fail to favor or retard 
the development of diverse organisms. The waters of different 
nature which we have recognized above, especially in the upper 
beds, are then characterized by a special facies of the fauna and 
floating flora. Thus the polar current carries water of a brown 
color due to the active development of vegetable plankton, which 
utilizes the vegetable substances coming from the streams of Siberia 
and brought by the current which comes from the pole. In the 
waters of positive temperature the copepods multiply actively and 
impart to the fauna of the final branches of the Gulf Stream a 
special character. 
In a general way, then, the several currents are recognizable by 
the life they carry, as well as by the chemical or physical character 
of their waters. 
