28 CANON NORMAN THE CELTIC PROVINCE : 



it was found iu such great abundance that in the course of half 

 a day several bushels could be brought up bv the aid of a trawl.* 

 The chief point of interest in connection with these examples from 

 off the Nortliumberland coast lies in the answer to the question, 

 how came these prawns in tlie place where they were trawled ? 

 Were they living in the North Sea as their home ? If that were 

 the case, it seems scarcely probable that they could have been 

 so long overlooked. Had they then been brought down by the 

 current flowing southwards along the Northumberland coast ? 

 Perhaps so, and in either case their future history must be 

 regarded with interest, for should they hereafter prove to have 

 multiplied in our waters, they may become of some commercial 

 value, since Professor Sars tells us that they have " a very 

 delicate flavour, and have always been very much esteemed." f 



That such a current exists has during the last few years been 

 clearly shown by the observations of hydrographic investigators 

 of the North Sea Fisheries Investigation Committee and of the 

 Conseil Permanent International pour Vexploration de la Mer. 

 The conclusions of these bodies have been based upon data 

 grounded on the greater or less extent of the salinity of the 

 waters and of the microscopic organisms (Diatomaceae, etc.) 

 which they contain. The investigations have not yet reached 

 that point where conclusions can be absolutely stated, but certain 

 points seem clearly established. 



First, that there is a current passing down the western side 

 of the North Sea to about as far as Flamborough Head, then 

 bending eastwards, parallel with the waters coming up through 

 the Straits of Dover, together they pass northward along the 

 eastern side, leaving comparatively unaffected the centre of 

 the area. But whence comes the current which flows down the 

 British coast? It seems proved that during the summer months 

 it is supplied by water of the highest salinity, which passes up 

 from the Atlantic and is, in fact, a portion of the Grulf Stream, 

 intermixed with water of less salinity which it has associated 

 with itself in passing through the Irish Sea or round the 

 western coast of Ireland. But in the winter season the so-called 

 Grulf Stream, which has been flowing northward at the rate of 



* G. 0. Sais, "Account of the Postembryonal Development of Pundalus 

 borealis, Kroyer " 'Report Norwegian Fishery and Marine Investigation,' 

 vol. i, 1900, No. 3. It is now frequently sent from Norway to our markets. 



t Many other Arctic Crustacea have been observed in the more southern 

 portion of the North Sea. Off the coast of Scotland Dr. Thomas Scott has 

 ohi^med. Etithe initio bispinosa, Boeck, Triiphw^ia Mulmi, Boeck, Byblis Gaimardi, 

 Kroyer, Anonyx niigax, Phipps, and off the Nortliumberland coast I have taken 

 Protomedeia fasciata, Kroyer, Unciola planipes, Norman, etc. 



