Professor Schouw's Specimen of Physical Geog^raphy. 173 



fined than in the Alps ; and the secondary wholly awanting. As to the 

 particular rocks in Scandinavia, gneiss and mica-slate are frequent, 

 whereas granite, primitive limestone, and clay-slate, so abundant in the 

 Alps, are here rather uncommon. It is particularly observable, that lime- 

 stone, transition, and secondary, as well as primitive, so prevalent in the 

 Alps and Pyrenees, is of little importance in Scandinavia. The rocks in 

 the Alps and Pyrenees are rugged and precipitous, but in Scandinavia 

 have a rounder form, which may be accounted for either by the more slaty 

 structure of the latter, or the greater horizontality of the strata. From the 

 want of the secondary rocks, fossil remains are for the most part rare in Scan- 

 dinavia ; however, in transition districts, they are not unfrequent. Among 

 the metals^ iron, copper, and lead, in all these ranges, are abundant; all 

 others are rather rare. In the Alps alone mercury is met with. The more 

 metalliferous districts are the east and west portions of the Alps, (Styria, 

 Carinthia, Savoy, and Dauphiny.) In the Pyrenees the same arrangement 

 prevails. In Scandinavia the metals seem most abundant, especially in one 

 valuable mineral, the magnetic iron ore. It is also worthy of notice, that 

 thermal springs, so frequent in the Alps and Pyrenees, do not occur in thie 

 northern high land." 



The subsequent section, which treats of Climate, is perhaps, the best in 

 the work. It gives us, however, much room to regret the want of correct 

 and authentic series of observations being carried on even at important 

 stations. In Scandinavia the defects are so great, that we should feel dif- 

 fidence in adopting all the conclusions which M. Schouw has drawn from 

 them ; and when in the various stations we find the most material cir- 

 cumstances unspecified which can alone render different results by differ- 

 ent observers comparable, and when we find the whole crowned with one 

 precious series, which we are disposed to think rather more than " satis 

 dubia," from the following causes, " tempus brevissimum, observatores 

 diversos, et horas non memoratas !" we gave up the idea of tabulating the 

 results for our readers' inspection, with all the fair speciousness of two 

 decimals of a Centigrade degree. It is not easy to believe that M. Schouw, 

 who so much interests himself in these northern regions, and has travelled 

 so much through their mountains and their coasts, should have been able 

 to collect but nine thermometric registers of any description, and these so 

 imperfect, that, with two exceptions, the hours of observation are unknown, 

 and probably little attended to by the observers. We are surprised to see 

 Provost Hertzburg of Ullensvang's observations among those wanting this 

 essential postulate, that intelligent ireteorologist being already known to 

 the readers of this Journal. The observations made in the Alps and round 

 their bases are more extensive and interesting; but being, we presume, all 

 already known, and while the tables of Humboldt's isothermal lines may be 

 referred to, it is unnecessary to insert results obtained in many important 

 cities of Europe, and well known to most of bur readers. In the Pyrenees 

 the observations are extremely meagre, being only four localities from the 

 old work of Cotte. We might have looked for some of Ramond's. To 

 form general conclusions from the distribution of temperature from four 

 ocalities, the altitude of two being unknown, of the third 600 feet, and 

 the fourth 6000, would be obviously premature. It is discouraging to 



