160 NATURAL SCIENCE [September 



teristic of the early periods in the recovery of our country after 

 its emergence from the waves and the close of what is now termed 

 " the Ice- Age " — the ages of the aspen (Populus tremula), of the 

 fir {Pinus sylvestris), the oak (Quercus sessiliflora), and ulti- 

 mately the alder (Alnus glutincsa) and the beech (Fagus 

 sylvatica). Much time was destined to elapse before these 

 studies of the gifted rising naturalist, so important for the history 

 of the life of our globe, were taken up elsewhere in other northern 

 regions. 



In the year 1839-40 Steenstrup was sent by the Government, 

 with an Icelandic student, Hallgrimson, and Mr Schytte, afterwards 

 Professor of Chemistry in Chile and Governor at Puntas Arenas on 

 the Straits of Magellan, to Iceland for an economic investigation of 

 this country. The story of this voyage, though interesting to those 

 who have had the good fortune to hear Steenstrup's reminiscences 

 of the country, its nature and its people, was never published ; nor 

 was his interesting and fruitful discovery that the so-called " Surtur- 

 brand " in the Tertiary trap formation of Iceland contained a series 

 of remains of an arboreal vegetation, with its tulip-trees (Lirio- 

 dendron), etc., most resembling that of certain subtropical regions, 

 until his Icelandic materials and figures were placed in the hands of 

 Oswald Heer. Steenstrup's investigations on the volcanic formation 

 of Iceland have been taken up by younger minds, who have no 

 doubt been much benefited by the information that was in Steen- 

 strup's possession. Another discovery made by Steenstrup on this 

 trip to Iceland happened during some sunny days near the coast of 

 Norway, viz., the discovery of the metamorphosis of crabs (Hyas 

 araneus) and soldier crabs (Pagurus bcrnhardus), at a period when 

 metamorphosis in Crustacea was very little known, and therefore 

 was received by excellent zoologists with considerable doubt. Steen- 

 strup's letters to Eeinhardt on this subject were printed in the 

 Proceedings of the Royal Danish Academy in 1870. The 

 specimens collected were also sent down to his teacher. They 

 were seen here by Ptathke, who described them together with the 

 material collected by himself. The history of the metamorphosis 

 in the higher Crustacea now occupies an extensive literature ; 

 among the first pioneers in this important chapter Steenstrup's 

 name must have its place. 



Shortly after his return from Iceland in 1841 Steenstrup was 

 appointed lecturer in Potany and Mineralogy (geology) in the 

 Academy of Soroe in Seeland, the only place in Denmark where 

 Natural History and a knowledge of modern languages had its 

 rightful place among the classical lines of study. Here he remained 

 until 1846, occupied especially witli two of his best known works, 

 published as programmes of the college, viz., "The Alternations of 



