and Public Libraries of Copenhagen. 1 23 



fiir it is '.vithiu these few j'ears only, or, more properly speaking, 

 since the direction of Professor Wad, that the enlargement and 

 arrangement of the collection have been conducted on any tiling 

 like a scientific principle ; bnt on account of the monstrous and 

 colossal size of tlse specimens. There are piece;; of Kongsbergcr 

 native silver, a foot in length, and from six to eight pounds iti 

 weight. A mass of silver in its natural rock, said to be worth 

 ten thousand dollars, is in trutli by no means remarkable. But 

 the calcedony of Iceland is of a most extraordinary magnificence. 

 Tiie drops of calcedony hang from the top to the bottom of the 

 piece, like inch thick pillars behind one another. Many remain 

 rn the middle, and do not reach the bottom"^. The quantity of 

 zeolite is immense. A piece of amber from Jutland, placed on 

 a velvet cusiiion, h little inferior in size to that in the Berlin col- 

 lection. Large pieces of geyser sinter, which the collection 

 lately received from Iceland, were almost in the state of con- 

 choidal opal. Besides tliese magnificent specimens, the collec- 

 tion possesses as great a treasure of choice and well-preserved 

 northern fossils from Arendal as the cabinet of the University, 

 !>inoe the beautiful collection of Manthey, the counsellor of state, 

 was purchased and brought to Rosenburg. This department is 

 so complete, that it is almost unequalled. It were to be wished 

 that the same |)rovision w;is made for those who wish to obtain 

 by means of ocular inspection a knowledge of the composition 

 of the mountains of the Danish dominions, which are better 

 known. But we look in vain for specimens of rocks in any coL- 

 lection of Copenhagen. The appearance of the lime-stoTie used 

 in Jutland or in Faxo ; the stone in which the Kongsberg mine 

 wa'i formerly wrought ; or the figure of the large rocks on the 

 west coast of Norv/ay at Bergen or in Nordland, we seek in vain 

 to discover either from a series or from individual specimens ; 

 and yet it would be so easy, and at the same time so princely, 

 to form in a royal collection something like a picture of the in- 

 terior of the whole dominions. 



Professor Schumacher has also made a very beautiful and com- 

 plete collection of Norwegian fossils ; among them he has many 

 things v.hich are not to be found in other cabinets. I should 

 doubt the possibility of showing more beautiful and distinct spe- 

 cimens of the leucile of Friedrichsvarn. The crystals are as 

 large as the leucite of Albano; we csn easily recognise the 

 double octahedral pyramid with four terminal planes; and the 

 white colour gives it a still stronger resemblance to the Roman 



* The calcerlonies of Iceland and Feroe arc remarkable, nol only on 

 account of tlieir ina;;i)if)cence and extraordinary beauty, but also fvr [he 

 various curious amd interesting forms they e»liibit, all of which, even tlie 

 slalactiTJr, 1 consider to be crystalline shoots.— J. 

 * Icncitc. 



