818 



is such a well-known fact, and it has so often heen proved, that 

 sea-algae are capable of floating far out to sea, that further discus- 

 sion of the matter is scarcely needed^; nevertheless I may illustrate 

 this b}^ some examples. 



A great man}^ algae are washed ashore on the sandy and there- 

 fore in many places barren west coast of Jutland. Dr. L. Kolde- 

 rup Rosen vinge has recently stated at the »Botaniske Forening«, 

 that about 40 species have hitherto been washed ashore there; se- 

 veral of these species do not grow on the west coast of Jutland, 

 some of them not in all Denmark. Among these algae some per- 

 fectly well-preserved, fruit-bearing specimens are found, e. g. of Hi- 

 manihalia lorea, which must be supposed to have been carried 

 probably from the English coast. ' 



I do not know for certain, whether there are algae which are not 

 air-inflated and yet able to drift or perhaps only hang suspended in 

 the water for some length of time; but I am inclined to believe that 

 such algae do exist, some however sink down quickly, some even 

 very quickly e. g. Fuciis serratus. It seems, however, ver}^ probable, 

 that several filiform and much ramilied algae must be able to float 

 for a long lime in the sea. Dr. Jobs. Schmidt for instance informs 

 me, that he has met with species of Ectocarpus and other higher 

 forms of algae floating near the surface of the sea east of Iceland. 

 In this connection I may also mention, that Hesselman (Bot. No- 

 tiser, 1897) found, in addition to some larger algae (Chorda /Hum, 

 FiicLis vesiculosiis and Enteromorpha intestinalis) also some smaller 

 forms, which unfortunately are not named, in Nortalge skargard 

 amongst drift. And in »Botanische Untersuchungen der Pomme- 

 rania- Expedition « vom 3. bis 24. August 1871, p. 77, Magnus de- 

 clares that at a distance of 4 miles from the east coast of Gotland 



* I may further mention a few examples: Gclidiiim cartilagineiim from the 

 southern part of the Atlantic has been washed ashore on the coast of Scot- 

 land), it is therefore also mentioned in early botanical works e. g. Edmonston: 

 Flora of Shetland), and on the coast of Norway, where it was found for instance 

 by Giinneriis (comp. Sernander: Den skandinaviske vegetationens spridnings- 

 biologi, Upsala 1901, p. 120). The American Laminaria longicruris has an inflated 

 stalk, b}' aid of which it can be carried a long distance; it has been found for 

 instance on the west coast of Jutland, at Hohuslan and Finmark (comp. Sernander 

 1. c). Still it is not excluded, that some of these inflated stipes of Laminaria , if 

 not all, which have been found, came from the Faeroes or Iceland, as Laminaria 

 fceroensis which grows theie has similar inflated stipes, though without mucous can- 

 als. Possibly it might, however, be the American species which has been carried 

 across the Atlantic. If that is so, the immigration of algse from America to the 

 Faeroes is certainlv not excluded. 



