208 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



be traced between the state of the Gulf Stream Drift in 

 these parts and the weather of the British Isles. If, as 

 seems to me probable, an affirmative answer can be given 

 to this query, it may well prove possible to predict the 

 general character of the summer and autumn of any year 

 from hydrographic observations made during February 

 and March of the same year at the mouth of (or even in) 

 the Irish Sea and English Channel. In the same way 

 observations made during the summer would perhaps give 

 an indication of the probable nature of the succeeding 

 winter. 



W. Meinardus* in a very striking paper has shown 

 that there is a very intimate connection between the 

 general circulation of the air in the North Atlantic region 

 (which forms one large barometric unit), the marine 

 Atlantic currents, and the weather of North-west Europe. 

 Thus he shows that a weak atmospheric circulation over 

 the North Atlantic during August-February corresponds 

 to (1) low water temperatures on the coast of Europe 

 during November-April; (2) low air temperatures in 

 Central Europe from February- April ; (3) little ice off 

 Newfoundland during the spring; (4) plenty of ice off 

 Iceland during the spring ; (5) bad wheat and rye harvests 

 in Western Europe and North Germany. A strong 

 atmospheric circulation over the North Atlantic during 

 August-February corresponds to exactly the opposite. 



Helland-Hansen and Nansen, in an important paper, t 

 have shown that the character of {he summer in Northern 

 Norway (and many important things depending upon 

 this, such as the Lofoten cod fishery, the harvest, and so 

 on) can be predicted a year, or even two years, in advance 



* Meteorologischc Zeitschrift XXII, 398 (1905). 



| Internationale Revue der gesamten Hydrobiologie und Hydro- 

 graphic II, 337 (1909). 



