CURRENTS OF THE ATLANTIC 71 



miles a day, which is greater than that displayed by numerous 

 bottle-drifts given by Schott, who says that more than ten miles a 

 day was seldom indicated (pp. 19, 20, map iv.). The longest passage 

 was that of a bottle which was carried about 1600 miles from opposite 

 Bahia to the vicinity of Montevideo at a minimum daily rate of 

 about ten miles. Many of the bottles, however, were stranded on 

 the coasts further north. 



General Results of the Bottle -Drift Data for the Atlantic 



AND THEIR APPLICATION TO THE DlSPERSAL OF SEEDS BY CURRENTS. 



In order to draw from the foregoing discussion some conclusions that 

 may be of practical value in the consideration of the dispersal of 

 seeds by currents in the Atlantic, I have given below a few general 

 results relating to the average periods taken by bottle-drift in accom- 

 plishing the various traverses and passages of this ocean. 



Results foe the Times occupied by the Drifting Bottle in crossing 

 the Atlantic in Northern and Equatorial Latitudes 



(A) From the Florida and neighbouring West Indian 



region to the shores of Europe by the Gulf 

 Stream route. 



(B) From off the coasts of Europe to the West 



Indies (Lesser Antilles and the Southern 

 Bahamas) by the Canary and Cape Verde 

 groups and in the North Equatorial Current. 



(C) From the Gulf of Guinea to the West Indies 



(South of Barbados) in the Main Equatorial 

 Current. 



(D) From the Gulf of Guinea to the nearest coast 



of Brazil in the Main Equatorial Current. 



(E) From off the Amazon estuary to Florida by 



the Caribbean Sea and the Straits of Yucatan 

 in the Main Equatorial Current. 



(F) From off the Amazon estuary to the shores of 



Europe by the Caribbean Sea, the Yucatan 

 and Florida Straits, and the Gulf Stream 

 route. 



(G) The circuit of the North Atlantic from the 



Florida region to the Lesser Antilles and the 

 Southern Bahamas by the Gulf Stream route 

 and in the North Equatorial Current. (For 

 the return to the Florida seas 160 days should 

 be added for the usual completion of the 

 route by the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of 

 Mexico, and 100 days for its completion by 

 the short passage through the Northern 

 Bahamas.) 



4000 miles at 9-2 miles a day 

 in 435 days, or about a 

 year and two months. 



4500 miles at 9 miles a day 

 in 500 days, or a year and 

 4 J months. 



4000 miles at 34 miles a day 

 in 118 days, or about 4 

 months. 



2500 miles at 30 miles a day 

 in 83 days or 12 weeks, but 

 under exceptionally favour- 

 able conditions in 60 days. 



3200 miles at 17 miles a day 

 in 188 days, or about 6 

 months. 



7200 miles at 11 \ miles a day 

 in 623 days, or about 20 

 months. Calculated from 

 results A and E. 



8500 miles at about 9 miles 

 a day in 935 days, or about 

 2\ years. Calculated from 

 results A and B. 



The first matter in connection with these results that needs further 

 discussion is the time occupied in the circuit of the North Atlantic. 



