632 



Dr. W. B. Carpenter on the 



[June 13, 



Buchan points out, if the warming influence were derived solely from 

 "Winds, the distribution of the Isocheimals or Winter Isotherms would be 

 very different. 



155. The recent extension, by the Scottish Meteorological Society, of 

 the same accurate system of observations to the Faroe Islands and Iceland, 

 and by the Meteorological Institute of Norway to various points on the 

 Norwegian Coast, has brought out still more strongly the fact that the 

 Climate of these stations is moderated, not merely by their proximity to the 

 Sea, but by the warmer temperature, derived from a Southern source, which 

 the Sea brings with it. At Thorsavn (Faroe), the Mean Annual excess of 

 Sea-temperature, its maximum in the W r inter months, and the reversal of 

 the difference between the Air and Sea in the Summer, correspond closely 

 with the similar averages on the West of Scotland. At Reykjavik the 

 Mean Annual excess of Sea-temperature is a little higher, but the Winter 

 maximum is not so great, and in the Summer the temperatures of the Sea 

 and Air are nearly equal. At Stykkisholm the Mean Annual excess of Sea- 

 temperature rises to 4°-2 ; the higher average being due not so much to 

 an increase in the Winter excess, but to the continuance of a sensible dif- 

 ference in favour of the Sea through the whole Summer, excepting in the 

 month of May. — It is at the Norwegian Stations, however, that the excess 

 of Sea-temperature shows itself most strongly, and particularly at Fruholm 

 near the North Cape; where, the Mean Annual excess being 6°-l, the 

 mean excess of the four Winter months is 14°-5 (that of December alone 

 being nearly 1 7°), the mean of the four Spring and Autumn months being 

 6°*3, while the excess of Air-temperature in the four Summer months 

 averages only 2 0, 6. 



156. It can scarcely be doubted, then, that a general North-easterly 

 surface-movement of Oceanic water is taking place in the portion of the 

 North Atlantic which lies between Iceland and Scandinavia ; and of the 

 existence of such a movement adequate evidence has already been adduced 



(§14). This movement, says Admiral Irminger*, " is the cause why 

 " the harbours of Norway, even further than the North Cape, and as far 

 " as the Fiord of Varanger, are accessible for navigation during the whole 

 " year ; just as the warm current which passes Cape ileikianas, and runs 

 " to the northward along the western shores of Iceland, is the cause of the 

 " south and west coasts of this island being clear of ice, so that even 

 " during the severest winters ships may go to Havne Fiord and other 

 " places in the Faxe Bay of Iceland, where they will always be- sure 

 " of finding open sea. If this current to the North in the Atlantic did not 

 " exist, the ice from the sea round Spitzbergen would float down to more 

 " southern latitudes than is now the case ; and certainly the coasts of Nor- 

 " way, as well as the sea between Shetland and Iceland, would frequently 

 " be filled with ice from the Icy Sea, and the influence of the ice would 

 "then be felt on the climate of the neighbouring coasts." — That this 

 * Proceedings of the Eoyal Geographical Society, May 10, 1869, vol, xiii. p. 227. 



