CARL VOK LTNNE AS A GEOLOGIST — NATIIORST. Yl7 



the land begins to narrow, and before we came to the farm. The land, which 

 was here slightly hilly, was like a i)lowed field toward the east, the furrows 

 of which ran parallel with the shore. Each ridge was about 6 to 18 feet 

 wide, and the side of it turned toward the sea was always the wider. On the 

 shore itself we saw how these ridges are formed, namely, one each year, from 

 the gravel thrown up by the sea. Close to the shore these ridges were seen 

 quite plainly, but further inland they were more flattened out and more 

 difficult to distinguish. From the shore we walked inland, making a careful 

 count of all the ridges which we could see distinctly, in order not to miss a 

 single year. We counted in all 77 of these ridges, of which the last was 

 situated at least 500 yards from the sea. measuring by our steps. If we had 

 had instruments so that we could have obtained careful measurements of the 

 distance of the innermost ridge from the sea and its height above sea level, we 

 should thus have been able to ascertain how much the sea had retreated in 

 those seventy-seven years. Such a yearly increase of the land I have never 

 before noticed in all my travels. However, it seems somewhat strange to me 

 that the seventy-seventh ridge should lie so far from the sea that from it the 

 western shore of the island could be seen directed overland. From this fact, 

 however, it may be concluded that this point is much younger than has been 

 generally supposed. Indeed it is possible that the sea, having established such 

 clear landmarks between these ridges, should in this way mark off a certain 

 number of years, particularly as the ridges are nowhere broken nor crowded 

 together. It would be desirable if some surveyor who happens to come this 

 way would take notice of this. 



Probably no investigator before Linne has ever described such 

 interesting examples of terraced shore gravel as the deposits at 

 Kapellshamn and Hobiirgen; and even now it would be rare to find 

 anyone who could count 77 similar successive ridges. From the 

 manner of his statement the impression may almost be conveyed 

 that Linne doubted whether each ridge really represented the lapse 

 of a year; at least he intimates that such a supposition would lead 

 to rather peculiar deductions. 



The ridges we have just mentioned have been investigated by Doc- 

 tor Munthe, the government geologist, who has kindly acquainted 

 us with the fact that the upper ridges date from the period of the 

 Ancylus Sea, but the others from the Littorina period. 



Certain rock formations, on Gotland popularly known as " rau- 

 kar ", gave Linne further confirmation of the higher water level of 

 ancient times. He left a most detailed description of a collection 

 of the latter at Kyllei, together with a drawing of them. 



* * * Between Stranridaregarden and the limekiln at Kyllei a sloping 

 hill ran along the bay shore on which several large and thick blocks of lime- 

 stone from 24 to 36 feet high were standing in rows like the ruined pillars 

 and arches of some church or castle. Those at the foot of the hill were higher 

 than the upper ones, so that all the blocks seemed to reach the same height. 

 From a short distance they resembled statues, busts, horses, and I know not 

 what kind of ghosts. It is certain, however, that all these were formerly part 

 of a limestone rock, and that at the time the retreating sea reached their level 

 they were polished, scoured, cut asunder, and actually sculptured by the surg- 

 ing and booming breakers into the shapes they now present. We can not doubt 



