1898.] PLAtfKTOtf OF THE PAEBOE CltANtfEL. 545 



pressure of 14 Ibs., or at 500 fathoms under a pressure of half 

 a ton, whether in bright light at a temperature of 54 F., or in 

 utter darkness at a temperature of 30-32 F. Not only so, but 

 it ranges apparently all over the globe (although not in such quan- 

 tity 1 as in the Arctic Seas), except for the fact that it has not 

 been recorded for the Equator and the hottest parts of the tropics, 

 nor south of Cape Horn. In the Antarctic regions according to 

 Chun 2 its place is apparently taken by Calanus propinquus ; but 

 Mr. Thompson informs me by letter, that in a recent examination 

 of Antarctic Plankton he finds Calanus finmarchicus to be one of 

 the commonest species. Its general distribution is cited by 

 G-iesbrecht 3 . 



In discussing the Plankton of the Faeroe Channel it must be 

 remembered that we are dealing with a * Mischgebiet/ for which I 

 would suggest the term ' Frontier/ a district in which the North- 

 easterly continuation of the North Atlantic Drift (the so-called 

 Gulf Stream), carrying a warm-water fauna, is constantly warring 

 with a Southerly set of Arctic water carrying a cold-water fauna 4 . 

 Both in 1896 and 1897 a succession of north winds had given a 

 distinctly northern character to the fauna : and although, for 

 example, fanthina-sliella and PhysopTiora liydrostatica have in some 

 cases been swept by the North Atlantic Drift as far north as the 

 Lofoten Islands through the Faeroe Channel, I have not so far 

 come across a single characteristically warm-water surface species in 

 the ' Eesearch' collections of either year from the Faeroe Channel. 



Taking now the 34 hauls in which Copepoda were captured, we 

 have 17 Epiplankton 5 hauls of less than 100 fathoms, and 13 

 Mesoplaukton 5 hauls (including 12 a, in which the depth was not 

 so approximately known as in the other deep hauls, but which 



1 With the view of testing the Prince of Monaco's suggestion, that a tow-net 

 could be made to pro vide food for shipwrecked boat's crews, we tried this species, 

 raw, in the ward-room of the ' Research.' The Officers voted it excellent food, 

 like "delicate shrimp-paste" ! 



2 C. Chun, op. cit. p. 48. 



3 W. Giesbrecht : Pelagische Copepoden des Golfes von Neapel, 1892, p. 89. 



4 Compare Chun, Beziehungen zwischen d. arktischen u. antarktischen 

 Plankton, pp. 7-10. Stuttgart, 1897. 8vo. 



5 In my lectures on Oceanography at University College, I have felt the 

 need of simple terms to express briefly the Oceanic zones, and have used the 

 following : 



Epiplankton : to + 100 fathoms below surface. 



Mesoplankton : + 100 fathoms below surface to 100 fathoms above 



bottom. 



Hypoplankton : +100 fathoms above bottom to bottom. 

 Epibenthos: high-water mark to the mud-line (generally at + 100 fathoms 



depth) = fauna of the continental shelf. 

 Mesobenthos : the mud-line ( + 100 fathoms) to + 500 fathoms = fauna 



of the continental slope. 



Hypobenthos : over 500 fathoms = abyssal fauna. 



This is not the place in which to discuss the justification of these terms : 

 their intention will be apparent to all who have followed the recent progress of 

 oceanic zoology. Two of them may be queried : (1) the Hypoplankton, under 

 which I reckon those floating and swimming animals (Crustacea, Fish, &c.) 

 which, for nutrition and for other reasons, are more intimately connected with 



