PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 253 



and a larger amount of ash. 1 Afterwards, many different species of 

 plants were analyzed and compared with Swedish plants and the 

 main result arrived at was very similar. 2 P. Feilberg writes: 

 "Iceland is the land of the Cyperacese and of the coarser species 

 of grass, hut the sheep and the cattle which through generations 

 have accustomed themselves to this coarse food, thrive well on it. 

 The chemical contents of the fodder show that this is also possihle, 

 nor is there any reason why it should be otherwise." 



In a damp and cold climate such as the Icelandic, the chemical 

 changes in the material of the soil take place more slowly than 

 the formation of vegetable matter, which accumulates and absorbs 

 water where this is copiously present; thus the entrance of air is 

 prevented, and heat is not generated. These circumstances give rise 

 to the production of acid, boggy humus as in other northern coun- 

 tries with a cold and damp climate. Considerable areas in Iceland 

 are covered with boggy soil, and there are also the very best con- 

 ditions for the formation of peat and bogs. In some parts of the 

 lowlands there are vast extents of bogs and swamps, as e. g. in 

 Myrar and Andakill at the head of Faxafloi, and in Floi, Olfus, 

 Holt, etc. in the southern lowland tract; while larger and smaller 

 swampy areas are found almost everywhere. In the lower-lying 

 parts of the plateau there are also wide stretches of boggy land, 

 e. g. Tvidsegra, north-east of Langjokull; Miklumyrar, north of 

 Hreppar, and many other places. In the majority of the districts 

 the area of wet grassland, covered with Cyperacea? and mosses, 

 exceeds by far that of the dry grassland, but unfortunately as yet 

 no measurements are to hand as regards the extent of the bogs. 3 



There are considerable peat-formations in the Icelandic bogs, but 

 their thickness, distribution, plant-remains, etc. have not yet been 

 investigated. In Skaftafellssyssel where glacier-rivers and volcanic 



1 Josep J. Bjornsson: Um heygsedi (Thj<>561fur, 1886, No. 40). P. Feilberg: 

 Graesbrug paa Island, Kbhavn., 1897, pp. 14 17. 



2 St. Stefansson and H. G. Soderbaum: Islandska foder- och betesvaxter 

 (Meddelanden fran kgl. Landbruks-Akademiens experimentalfalt. Nos. 74 og 83, Stock- 

 holm, 1902 and 1904). Also in Bunadarrit, XVI. 1902, pp. 179196; XVII, 1903, 

 pp. 25-66; XXIV, 1910, pp. 148. 



8 M. Gruner's "Die Bodenkultur Islands," Berlin, 1912, came to my notice 

 after I wrote the above; in it he estimates the entire bog area of Iceland at 

 10,000 square km. or about 10 % of the entire area of the island. According to 

 this, as regards the extent of its bog area, Iceland is reckoned to be third among 

 the Scandinavian countries (Finland 27.2 %, Sweden 12.6 %, Iceland 10 /o, Den- 

 mark 5 /o and Norway 3.7 %). 



