METHODS OF PLANKTON RESEARCH. 541 



by Henseii (3). The vessel chosen for the voyage, the 

 " National/' started from Kiel, July 6th, 1889, and pro- 

 ceeded northwards through the Kattegat and Skagerack, 

 and then across the Atlantic Ocean to Greenland. Vertical 

 plankton hauls were taken at intervals on the way. From 

 Greenland the course was directed S.W. for the Bermudas, 

 and consequently went over the banks of Newfoundland 

 and across both the Arctic Labrador Current and the 

 warm waters of the Gulf Stream. From the Bermudas 

 the course ran almost parallel to 30° N". lat., and thence 

 across the Sargasso Sea, until the meridian of 38° W. 

 was crossed, and the Cape Verde Isles steered for. This 

 direction was followed further to the S.E. up to the Island 

 of Ascension, then west again over the ocean to the 

 Amazon's mouth, practically along the South Equatorial 

 Current. From the latter place the vessel returned direct 

 to the English Channel. 



The series of reports by specialists on the different 

 groups of pelagic organisms are not yet all published, and 

 the general conclusions have not yet been put together, 

 but from some results given by Hensen (4), it was shown 

 that the quantitative catches agreed, as far as volume is 

 concerned, far better than was expected, and gave still 

 further proof of the equal distribution of the plankton. 

 Several interesting points were brought to light in connec- 

 tion with the distribution. An unexpected result was 

 that, contrary to the conditions existing on the land for 

 both animal and plant life, the plankton was decidedly 

 more abundant in cold and temperate regions than in the 

 tropics. The difference in volume in the catches between 

 Greenland and the Hebrides and those taken from the 

 Sargasso Sea is truly remarkable. 



This result was quite unexpected by those who had 

 worked at the material rich in species, taken by the 



