Note 143 — Chapter IV · 1492-1493.

“Men also became acquainted with those great banks of sea-weed (Fucus natans),—the oceanic meadows which presented the singular spectacle of the accumulation of a social plant over an extent of space almost seven times greater than the area of France. The great Fucus Bank, the Mar de Sargasso, extends between 19° and 34° north latitude. The major axis is situated about 7° west of the island of Corvo. The lesser Fucus Bank lies in a space between the Bermudas and the Bahamas. Winds and partial currents variously affect, according to the character of the season, the length and circumference of these Atlantic fucoid meadows.”—Humboldt: Cosmos. Otté’s trans. vol. ii. p. 663.