406 SCIENTIFIC RECORD FOR 188S. 



lated into French and German, and notwithstanding its antiquity, it is 

 still the best source of knowledge of this country. At the close of the 

 last century the island was visited by several naturalists, among whom 

 we mention N. Mohr and Sveinn P41sson, of whom the latter has left 

 some still unpublished works on the volcanoes and glaciers of Iceland. 



The geology of Iceland was not thoroughly studied until the com- 

 mencement of the nineteenth century. Among those who devoted 

 themselves to this subject we must mention G. S. Mackenzie (1810), C. 

 Krug von Nidda (1833), and Eugene Eobert, who, in 1835-36, was a mem- 

 ber of de Gaimard's expedition. Steenstrup, Hall^rimsson, and Schythe 

 visited Iceland in 1839-40, during which period Steenstrup investigated 

 the fossil plants of tbe miocene period, which later were described by 

 Oswald Heer in his "Flora fossilis arctica." Bjoru Gunnlaugsson also 

 contiibuted considerably to the knowledge of the country by construct- 

 ing, during the years 1831-1843, a map of the island. In 1840, the year 

 following the last eruption of Hecla, the island was visited by three 

 celebrated scientists, E. Bunsen, Des Cloizeaux, and Sartorius v.Walters- 

 hausen, and during their sojourn they achieved considerable scientific 

 results. Th. Kjerulf visited the island in 1850 and G. G, Winkler in 

 18.';8. Tlie geologist, F. Zirkel, who explored the island in 1800, fur- 

 nished very valuable contributions to tbe knowledge of the rocks of Ice- 

 land. The " lieise nach Island," by Preyer and Zirkel, is one of the best 

 descriptions known. PaijkuU (1807) constructed the first geological 

 map of Iceland, and F. Jonstrup, during his two visits in 1871 and 1876, 

 studied several volcanoes and sulphur and coal beds. 



Halldor Jakobsson (1734-1810) was the first to occupy himself with 

 the history of the Icelandic volcanoes, but his work has not been of 

 much utility, on account of the frequent inaccuracies in the location of 

 volcanoes and the dates of their eruptions. G, Garlieb was engaged 

 in similar studies, but his work, too, contains many inaccuracies. Eu- 

 gene Eobert, Sabine Baring-Gould, and Zirkel have partly fallen into tbe 

 same mistakes as the preceding authors. The information having 

 mostly been obtained in an indirect way, it is not to be wondered at 

 that the results are faulty. The Icelandic poet and naturalist, Jonas 

 Hallgrimsson, was the first to give a true account of the history of the 

 Icelandic volcanoes, but his memoir only exists in manuscript. Many 

 Icelanders have given accounts of various volcanic erui)tions during the 

 past century, but the greater part of these observations are still unpub- 

 lished, and are preserved in libraries or otherwise. As regards the 

 eruptions of the nineteenth century, J. G. Schythe has given an excel- 

 lent account of that of Hecla in 1845, and F. Jonstrup has describe^i 

 the volcanoes of Dyngjiifjall, Sveinagjii, and My vatn. 



Notwithstanding the many celebrated scientists who have visited 

 Iceland, its geology is at present but little known, but this finds an 

 exp>lanation in the extent of the country, in the many diflQculties which 

 present themselves to the traveler, and the limited time at their com- 

 mand. 



