On the Glaciers and Climate of Iceland. 289 



of the sea between the Shetland Islands and Cape Reyk- 

 janes* is nearly constant ; and, during the month of May, it 

 is, on the average, about 8-1 degrees centigi'ade. At Feroe, 

 however, which we regard as lying nearly in the middle of 

 the Gulf Stream, and which has a longitude of 7° west of 

 Greenwich, it amounts to 8-7° centigrade ; and, in the same 

 latitude, at the longitude of 20° west, it is as much as 9-3° 

 centigrade. Continuing on the same parallel of latitude, and 

 passing westward, we find, at a longitude of 35", the tempera- 

 ture reduced to 5-8° centigi-ade, and at 40° longitude, we find 

 it still farther reduced to 3-3° centigrade ; and, finally, on 

 nearly reaching the coast of Greenland, we meet with a tem- 

 perature less even than 1° centigrade. 



These observations are in perfect accordance with what we 

 should expect to result from the dii'ections of the tropical and 

 polar currents, of which the latter passes from Jan Mayen, 

 with a south-westerly course, between Iceland and Green- 

 land. 



Meteorological observations, continued for several years 

 without interruption, which give us pretty satisfactory in- 

 formation respecting the climate of Iceland, have been car- 

 ried on up to the present time in Reykjavik by Thorstensen,t 

 and in Akureyre, on the Oefiord, by Captain Scheel. 



The mean temperature of the air for the whole year, given 

 by the observations conducted at Reykjavik is 4-5° centigrade ; 



* Regarding the temperature of the sea in those regions, we possess much 

 information derived from observations repeated almost annually in vessels pas- 

 sing between Copenhagen and Reykjavik. The numercial results given in the 

 text rest on the authority of (!aptain Irminger ; and they agree well with our 

 own observations, so far as we were able to carry them out during our very 

 stormy voyage. We found the temperature of the sea, .some leagues to the 

 south of Fair Hill, on the 9th of May, rising with the daily increase of tempera- 

 ture till about two o'clock in the afternoon, from 7'3° to 80" centigrade ; whilst 

 the temperature of the air attained its maximum of 11 centigrade at a quarter 

 past 12 o'clock. 



t The meteorological observations made at Reykjavik from the 1st of 

 January 1823 till the 1st of August 1837, have already appeared, under the 

 title " Observationes MeteorologiciB in Islandia facta; a Thorstensenio me- 

 dico," Copenhagen, 1839. The results which have been subsequently obtained 



