During the months of May to August 1910 the Norwegian research steamer "Michael 

 Sars" accomplished a cruise in the North Atlantic under the superintendence of Sir John 

 Murray, K. C B., and Dr. Johan Hj'ort, director of the administration of Norwegian 

 fisheries. Dr. H j o r t has published a short review of some of the main results of the 

 cruise, 1 ) in which he says': 



"We first experimented with the trawl, and undertook hydrographical investigations 

 to the west of Ireland, over the slope of the coast banks. Our course was then set across the 

 Bay of Biscay, where we made a number of investigations, towards the north-west corner 

 of Spain. From there we followed the Spanish and Portuguese coasts down to Gibraltar, 

 where: we obtained a series of current measurements in the strait. Cadiz Bay was next 

 examined and careful hydrographical observations of the currents were made over several 

 sections of these interesting waters, while series of trawlings were at the same time under- 

 taken from the coast down to profound depths. 



We then steamed in the direction of the Canary islands, and examined the African 

 banks from the coast to the ocean floor, and subsequently crossing a large section of the Atlantic, 

 visiting the Azores, the Sargasso sea, and eventually Newfoundland. Throughout the whole 

 of this section, comprising 40 stations, we made constant hydrographical investigations and 

 employed many different kinds of instruments for collecting plankton organisms of all sizes. 

 A similar section was run in July from Newfoundland over to Ireland (22 stations), and we 

 concluded our researches by a more thorough examination of the waters between Glasgow, 

 Rockall, the Faroes and Shetland— that is to say, the sea to the south and north of the 

 Wyville Thomson ridge— to study the transition from the Atlantic to the Norwegian sea. 



During the four months that the cruise lasted a great deal was accomplished. For 

 oceanographic science it cannot but be interesting to learn that a little steamer, of only 

 226 tons, could carry out so many and such multifarious researches right across one of the 

 great ocean basins, and I will accordingly give a few figures to illustrate what was done. 



In the case of hydrographical material we collected 2400 water-samples, more than 

 900 of which were from below the surface. At 110 stations we took 937 temperature- 

 observations from below the surface, while as many as 1625 observations of the surface 

 temperature were recorded during the cruise. In addition, we obtained 258 measurements 

 of currents and seven measurements of the penetration of light beneath the surface. For 

 the study of vegetable plankton we made 140 vertical hauls, and took 38 water-samples 

 for filtration and 58 samples for examination with the centrifuge. For the larger plankton 

 there were 95 vertical hauls with nets of different sizes, 193 horizontal hauh with silk 



') The Geographical Journal for April and May 1911. 



Internationale Revue der gesammten Hydrobiologie und Hydrographie 1911. 



