DISTRIBUTION OF LIFE IN THE OCEAN. 147 



nevertheless, the great centre of the viviparous fishes, and con- 

 tains also a large variety of peculiarly shaped Sculpins. 



Farther north, between the Straits of Fuca and the island of 

 Sitka, the shore resembles that of Maine, with its many islands, 

 bays, and inlets ; a succession of long, narrow islands forms a 

 barrier along the coast, enclosing the shore waters, so as almost 

 to make them into an inland sea. But little fresh water empties 

 upon this part of the coast, and here, where the salt water is little 

 modified by any deposit from the land, but where the violence of 

 the ocean is broken by this barrier of islands, there is a full devel- 

 opment of marine life. The shores of the Gulf of Georgia, and 

 those of Vancouver's Island, seem to be especially the home of 

 the Star-fishes. The fauna of this locality has been but little in- 

 vestigated, and yet the number of species of Star-fishes known 

 from there is greater than from any other region ; many of them 

 are of colossal size, measuring some four feet in diameter. This 

 coast seems also very favorable for the development of Hydroids, 

 in consequence of which its waters swarm with a variety of Jelly- 

 fishes. The Pennatula, that pretty compound Halcyonoid, with 

 its feather-like sprays, is another characteristic type of this fauna. 

 Beyond this, from Sitka to Behring's Straits, the same rocky 

 coast prevails as in Labrador and Greenland. In Behring's 

 Straits we return again to the forests of beautiful compound 

 Mollusks, or rather to a variety of " representative species," 

 resembling the Bryozoa and Ascidians so abundant in Baffin's 

 Bay. The depth of the water, however, is much less here than 

 on the corresponding Atlantic coast, where, south of Greenland, 

 along the shore of Labrador, the water is very deep, while in 

 Behring's Straits the depth is not greater than from one hundred 

 to one hundred and twenty fathoms. The respective faunae of 

 these two shores is also affected by the difference of temperature, 

 the cold current from Baffin's Bay sweeping down upon the coast 

 of Labrador, while, through Behring's Straits, the warm current 

 from the Pacific pours into the Arctic Ocean. 



Thus the whole coast of our continent is peopled more or less 

 thickly with animals. But now arises a new set of inquiries ; 

 how far into the sea do these animals extend ? how wide is their 

 domain ? Do they wander at will in the ocean, or are they 



