186 M. G. Winther on the Geographical 
the greatest influence on Western Europe in point of climate 
and fauna, viz. the Gulf-stream, branches of which cross the 
northern portion of the Atlantic and touch precisely on the 
coasts in question. 
According to the most modern researches, a branch of the 
Gulf-stream strikes the north-west corner of Spain and sepa- 
rates into two minor currents, of which one runs southwards 
past Vigo, along the coast of ae and Portugal, whilst the 
other follows the shore of the Bay of Biscay to the western 
extremity of Brittany. The direction of this current along 
the French coast is therefore first northerly and then, along 
the S.W. coast of Brittany, north-westerly. After leaving 
the western extremity of Brittany the current maintains this 
north-westerly direction, following the edge of that submarine 
plateau on which both France and England are situated; and 
near the coast of Ireland this branch reunites with the main 
portion of the Gulf-stream, which, having crossed the Atlantic 
flows along the western shores of Ireland, Scotland, and the 
Shetland Islands. From this point the stream, following 
still the edge of the plateau, strikes across to the coast of 
Norway, which it touches first between Bergen and 'Trond- 
hjem, spreading thence along the coast as far as the North 
Cape. From that branch of the Gulf-stream which, as we 
have described, crosses the mouth of the Channel, a minor 
branch diverges into the Channel, after passing which it 
spreads into the southern division of the North Sea, where its 
effects are well marked. After passing along the coast of 
Holland it touches Heligoland and the islands west of Slesvig, 
and follows the west coast of Jutland as far as the Skaw, 
where an ultimate bifurcation takes place, one branch passing 
to the Swedish coast, whilst the effects of the other, which runs 
southwards along the east coast of the Cimbrian peninsula, can 
be traced as far as the Bay of Kiel. 
All along these coast-lines, which are touched by the Gulf- 
stream, and where consequently the saltness and temperature 
of the water are proportionally high and independent of local 
circumstances, oysters are found. ‘They constitute its specific 
area, according to the terminology of Mr. Forbes. How en- 
tirely the oyster depends on the Gulf-stream is beautifully 
illustrated in the Kattegat, where it does not reach so far 
south on the Swedish coast as on the Danish coast, obviously 
because the rather fresh current from the Baltic flows chiefly 
along the coast of Sweden, whilst the salt current from the 
North Sea follows the shore of Jutland. Oysters occur also 
near the island of Anhalt, in a place where a local northern 
current has often been observed ; but the locality would not 
