6.p 



NA TURE 



[Oct. 30, 1! 



grass green to the white and yellow green — which give 

 such richness of colour to the vegetation in the Atlantic 

 Ocean, are almost entirely absent in the Arctic seas. 



I have already mentioned that leaf-weed and coral 

 algae attain a great size in the Arctic Ocean. This is 

 also the case with a considerable number of other Arctic 

 algae. Thus, the brown alga;, e.g. Desmarestia aculeata, 

 L., and Dichloria mridis, Midler, and the red algae, 

 Delesseria sinuosa, G. and W., and Halosaccion ramen- 

 taceum, L., as well as the green algae, Monostroma Blyttii, 

 Aresch., and Chatomorpha mclagonium, W. and M., show 

 a high degree of development ; a fact which proves that 

 these alga; not only endure, but are quite at home in, the 

 Polar water. 



Another feature of great interest relating to the subject 

 are the biological conditions of the alga? flora. Alga; 

 which conclude their existence in a single year are either 

 wanting, or at all events very few. Nearly all Arctic alga; 

 Jive several years, and in order that they may be able 

 to effect the work of propagation and nourishment 

 with the little supply there is of heat and light, their 

 organs are in operation during the dark as well as the 

 light season. Whilst wintering at the northernmost part 

 of Spitzbergen in 1872-73, Prof Kjellman observed in the 

 middle of the winter, viz. at a time when the sun was 

 lowest and the darkness therefore most intense, that a 

 considerable development and growth of the organs of 

 nourishment took place, while, as regards the organs of 

 propagation, he found that it was just at this season that 

 they were most developed. Spores of all kinds were pro- 

 duced and became mature, and they developed into splendid 

 plants. The Arctic alga; therefore present the remark- 

 able spectacle of plants which develop their organs of 

 nourishment, and particularly their organs of propagation, 

 all the year round, even during the long Polar night, 

 growing regularly at a temperature of between — i° and 

 — 2° C, and even attaining a great size at a temperature 

 which never rises above freezing-point. 



The result at which Prof. Kjellman arrived with regard 

 to the development of the Arctic flora was this, that the 

 algae flora of the Arctic Ocean is, contrary to the Phane- 

 rogamic flora, not an immigrant flora, but that its origin 

 lay in the Polar Sea itself. This theory is, he believes, 

 proved by the facts that (1) the Arctic algae flora is rich in 

 endemic species, these being not fewer than 37, or 22 per 

 cent, of the whole flora) ; and that (2) there are many species 

 found both in the Northern Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans 

 a large percentage of which reaches very far north in the 

 Arctic Sea, and which have attained a high degree of 

 development there, being characteristic algae of the 

 Arctic Ocean. That the endemic species owe their origin 

 to the Arctic Ocean cannot be doubted ; and that the 

 species referred to under (2) have been originated there 

 and gradually spread to the other two oceans is more 

 than probable. If this be so, Prof. Kjellman estimates 

 the number of species whose origin must be referred to 

 the Arctic Ocean at 100, i.e. about 60 per cent of the 

 entire algae flora. 



There remain now but a few remarks to make on the 

 algae flora of that part of the Arctic Ocean which has been 

 named the Norwegian Polar Sea. 



If sufficient notice be taken of the geographical position, 

 this sea may be said to be the most favoured on the globe 

 in the way of temperature. Although north of the Polar 

 Circle, and reaching thence to 72" N. lat., it is never 

 frozen, not even along the coasts. The mean temperature 

 of the sea at the North Cape during the coldest season, 

 viz. March, April, and May, is + 3 C, and during the 

 true winter months, December to February, + 3 C '03 C. If 

 to this be added that the water is very salt, and that the 

 bottom nearly everywhere consists of rocks or boulders, 

 and that the coast is full of fjords and islands, every con- 

 dition for the development of a rich algae flora is present. 

 .And indeed the flora here is more copious than in the 



true Arctic Ocean. There are no large deserts here. 

 The upper shore-belt is covered with algae, while brown 

 algae (Fucacea?) are found everywhere, sometimes less, 

 sometimes more mixed with red and green ones. The 

 lower belt is the home of the leaf-weed algae, most of 

 which belong to other species than those of the true 

 Arctic Sea. The coral algae, too, are well represented, 

 and even these differ from those of the true Arctic Sea 

 in possessing brighter colours. The number of red algae 

 belonging to other groups is also greater than in the true 

 Arctic Sea. The total number of alga; species in the 

 Norwegian Polar Sea is 194, a number which is very 

 great when we remember its limited area. There are in 

 the true Arctic Sea, which is so much larger, only 174 

 species. 



With regard to the general character of the algae flora 

 of the Norwegian Polar Sea, it must be described as a 

 mixed flora, made up of species belonging partly to the 

 Arctic and partly to the Atlantic Oceans, and some en- 

 demic ones. Prof. Kjellman believes, and in this I 

 entirely concur, that the former are the original species 

 characteristic of the spot, and that they are remnants 

 from the time when the Arctic Ocean was larger than it 

 is at present, i.e. during the Glacial period. The Atlantic 

 species have immigrated during more recent times with 

 the Gulf Stream, as they have by degrees become so 

 prominent that the algae flora of the Norwegian Polar 

 Sea must, on the whole, now be referred to the Atlantic 

 Ocean. 



It has already been said that the algae flora of the 

 west coast of Greenland occupies a transitory position 

 between that of the North Atlantic and that of the true 

 Arctic Ocean. According to W. G. Farlow (" Marine 

 Algae of New England and Adjacent Coasts," 1881) this 

 is far more the case with the algae flora of the northern 

 parts of the United States, and it may be of interest to 

 note that by the aid of the Polar current flowing there a 

 considerable number of true Arctic algae have succeeded 

 in penetrating to the forty-second degree of latitude, i.e. 

 the latitude of Central Italy, or perhaps, more correctly 

 speaking, have remained on the shores of New England 

 from the very period when the Arctic Ocean extended 

 thither at the time of the Glacial Age. 



Veit Brecher Wittrock 



Academy of Science, Stockholm 



NOTES 



We are glad to learn that the trustees have appointed Prof. 

 Newcomb Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy in the Johns 

 Hopkins University, and that he has agreed to accept the 

 position. The University begins the session with 273 students, 

 of whom 160 are graduates, and the attendance is distributed 

 well through all the departments. Sir William Thomson's 

 lectures, as might be expected, were a great success. 



The following changes are proposed to be made in the Council 

 of the London Mathematical Society for the ensuing session : — 

 Prof. Sylvester, F. K.S., and Prof. Greenhill are nominated to 

 fill up the places vacated by the late Prof. Rowe and Mr. W. D. 

 Niven, F.R.S. Mr. J. W. L. Glaisher, F.R.S., has been 

 selected for the Presidentship, while Dr. Henrici, F. R. S., Prof. 

 Sylvester, F.R.S , and Mr. J. J. Walker, F.R.S., have been 

 nominated Vice-Presidents. In consequence of Dr. Henrici's 

 not having yet returned from his visit to Canada and California, 

 it is not yet certain whether he will deliver his retiring address 

 at the annual meeting (November 13), or defer its delivery to a 

 later date in the session. It is proposed to present the De 

 Morgan Memorial Medal to Prof. Cayley, F.R.S., its first 

 recipient, at the annual meeting. 



Lord M'Laken and Mr. John Murray, two of the directors 

 of the Ben Nevis Observatory, ascended Ben Nevis last week 



