OLAND AND GOTHLAND 93 



necessity of importing any article used either in medi- 

 cine or manufactures.' l He was to examine the anti- 

 quities, stones for use in the arts, and economics 

 generally. < In the execution of his plan he went 

 much farther than his commission extended, throwing 

 his soul into the work,' and compassed much of col- 

 lateral utility to Sweden, and the islands themselves. 

 As one small instance, the Salt grass, called in Gland 

 ' Salting,' 2 he recommends farmers to cultivate with 

 attention, having remarked how much it was relished 

 by cattle and horses, and how salutary and medicinal 

 it proved to be to those animals. On the other side, he 

 first pointed out to the Glanders the use of the reed 

 Arundo arenaria to arrest the sand and bind the soil 

 upon the sea-beach, as he had seen it used on the dunes 

 of Holland or had he also suggested to the Dutch the 

 use of it ? His discoveries in drugs and minerals, ^nd 

 his observations in zoology and botany, are copious and 

 valuable. During this tour he made a catalogue of 

 one hundred plants, now first discovered to be natives 

 of Sweden. 



One object of the Iter Olandicum was to discover 

 an earth fitted to make porcelain. In this he was 

 unsuccessful. 3 



1 Diary. 2 Triglochin maritimvm. 



1 Would the rotten, oily, damp building-stone of Oland grind 

 down into porcelain ? or is it not of tine quality enough ? The 

 finely-ground Swedish felspar used in the Worcester potteries is a 

 most valuable component of that porcelain. It is of a delicate 

 pinkish hue. 



