286 On the Glaciers and Climate of Iceland. 



coasts of Iceland and Feroe, is afforded by the seeds and 

 fruits of certain tropical plants which are found along with 

 those floating trunks of trees. These fruits and seeds are 

 met with on the sea-beach of Iceland, where I had the oppor- 

 tunity of making an entire collection of them between Rau- 

 farhavn and Vapnafiord, and they also occur on the shores 

 of Feroe, and of the north of Scotland. They have already 

 for two centuries attracted the attention of natui'alists and 

 geographers. By the concurring statements of various ob- 

 servers, there are found, in the places just mentioned, the 

 fruits of Mimosa scandens, Piscidia erythrina, Cocos nucifera, 

 Cucurbita lagenaria, Cassia fistula, and Anacardium occi- 

 dentale. 



Petrus Clauson mentions, in his Description of Norway, 

 certain things called Yettenyre (Mimosa scandens), which he 

 supposes to be stones. In Iceland the same productions are 

 regarded as stones, and a miraculous influence is ascribed to 

 them in certain diseases. Lucas Debes,* a subsequent writer, 

 in his description of Feroe, corrects this error, and at the same 

 time pronounces them to be West Indian beans. Also Strbmf 

 and GunnerusJ describe in detail the occurrence of these 

 fruits on the Norwegian coasts ; and Wahlenberg,§ their oc- 

 currence in Norway and Finmark, although not to the south 

 of the parallel of 62° 20' of north latitude. Finally, Lyngbye 

 and Irminge mention the same things as being abundant 

 and well known at Feroe. These transatlantic pi'oductions 

 are evidently due to the branch of the Gulf Stream which is 

 directed towards Northern Scandinavia. 



According to various other results of experience, which, in 

 what follows, we shall communicate in detail, it appears that 

 this branch of the Gulf Stream, directed towards Northern 

 Scandinavia, is met by a cold current which flows backwards 



* Feroa reserata. Copenhagen, 1673. 



t Bescrivelse over Sondmor, Sorbe, 1762. 



X Det Trondheimske Selskabs-Skrifter, Kiobenhavn (Copenhagen) 1765. 

 Efterretning om de saa kaldede Losning-Stene eller Vette-Nyrer cm Orme- 

 Stene og nogle andere udenlandske Frugter, som findes hist og her ved stran- 

 den i Norge. 



§ Wahleuberg's Flora Lapponica, Berlin, 1812, p. 516. 



