J 74 



NA TURE 



\I)ec. 25, iSS 4 



exi ted, but they have now almost entirely vanished (their 

 temperature having sunk to from 5°to7° C). Dyngjufjoll, 

 especially the valley of Askja, are the only localities in 

 these regions, where volcanic manifestations of this 

 character are now to be seen ; and there hot springs, clay- 

 pits, sulphur-mines, and fumaroles of every kind are well 

 developed. But these appearances are to be connected with 

 an enormous eruption which occurred as late as 1875. 

 Throughout the whole of Oda-Sahraun I have come upon 

 no traces of subterranean heat, except at the places here 

 mentioned. About the peninsula of Reykjanes which I 

 explored last year, many more signs of activity were 

 found, which seems to show that in that locality the 

 volcanic disturb inces are to be referred to a later period 

 than those of OdiSahraun. 



The northern edge of Vatnajokul has never been 

 examined before. In my journey 1 was enabled to take 

 the various elevations of this glacier, and found that at 

 its western extremi y, in the neighbourhood of VonarskartS, 

 it rises to its greatest height, over 6000 feet. East of this 

 point it becomes lower, until it rises again about Kverkfjbll, 

 where an upheaval is perceptible right across it from 

 north to south. From the hollow, or lowest point, the 

 largest glacier in Iceland has taken its course. It is 



country, because of the excellence of its work. Being 

 supported by a regular fund, there are advantages con- 

 nected with it which one will not find in other laboratories 

 which are dependent upon subscriptions. Some excellent 

 specialists spend their summers a: this station, and the 

 character of their work is shown in the bulletins pub- 

 lished from the laboratory. Although Beaufort is not 

 remarkably rich in variety of forms, still this is counter- 

 balanced by the abundance of certain very interesting 

 animals, for the study of which no better place than 

 Beaufort can be found. As the Gulf Stream strikes on 

 this coast, there are many interesting embryos found in 

 the water. The building is a two storied house made to 

 serve as a laboratory, and it is placed within a few feet of 

 high-water mark. The location is a low sandy shore in a 

 rather warm climate, bat this is necessary on that coast 

 where nothing else is found. For collecting purposes a 

 steam-launch and sail-boat are used. It is under the 

 direction of Prof. W. K. Brooks, who has done much 

 towards making it what it now is. 



Much further north, at Newport, Rhode Island, is 

 another laboratory of a somewhat different character. It 

 is under the charge of Prof. Alexander Agassiz, who, with 

 a few assistants and some advanced students from Har- 



important that this glacier should be carefully examined, vard College, carries on his investigations on the sea- 



but its exploration would require a long time, for it is 

 almost impossible to make a lengthened stay here, on 

 account of the utter barrenness of the region, and the 

 roughness of the weather. 



In this journey I succeeded in solving the geo- 

 graphical riddle, which of the many rivers of Iceland 

 is the longest. It has hitherto been assumed that Jo- 

 kulsa in Axarfjord was the longest, 100 English miles; 

 and that next to it came tjdrsa, 96 miles long ; but I have 

 now asi ertained that I>jdrsa is by far the longest river in 

 Iceland, its course being about 120 miles, while Jokulsa is 

 only 95. Hitherto, also, it has been supposed that the sources 

 of Jokulsa were situated in the spurs of Kistufell ; they are 

 really twenty miles further to the east, under the western 

 slopes of Kverkfjoll. The sources of J>jdrsa are situated 

 in the north-westerly ] ortion of Sprengi andr, to the 

 north-west of FjcjrSungsalda. 5j6rsa, too, carries a greater 

 volume of water than Jokulsa. On a July day the latter 

 carries, midway between its source and its mouth (viz. at 

 GnmsstaSir) 14,500 cubic feet of water per second, but 



shore. Dr. F. Walter Fewkes and C. O. Whitman study 

 regularly at this laboratory. Because of its private 

 character it should rather be classed with the former 

 private laboratories which investigators were accustomed 

 to establish at some favourite place on the sea-shore than 

 with the general laboratories for students, though a 

 certain 'limited number are admitted each summer. The 

 advantages for study are limited, and the locality rather 

 poor. 



In the southern part of Massachusetts, at a place called 

 Wood's Holl, the chief marine station of the United 

 States is stationed. This is the Laboratory of the United 

 States Fish Commission. Since 1871 the Fish Commis- 

 sion has each year been located at some point on the 

 New England coast, investigating principally the specific 

 characters of the marine fauna. Prof. Baird, the Com- 

 missioner, has had the direction of the Commission since 

 it was first originated, and with the assistance of such 

 eminent American naturalists as Goode, Bean, Yerrill, 

 Smith, and Sanderson Smith, the previously unkown 



*jdrsa at the proportionate pout at &jdrsarholt) carries j New England fauna has been thoroughly studied, and 



17,600 cubic feet in the same space of time, 

 Akreyri, September 7 Th. THORODDSEN 



AMERICAN SUMMER ZOOLOGICAL 



STATIONS 



j N the United States there has been during the past ten 



years a great increase in the advantages for the study 



oi zoology. Not only has this increase been manifested 



i_ ^ , , , ,. ... . „ : — ~ ~ i *"«-"«- "iu i.i«_ a. minjii in i l uvcauii i iiia, to 



in the colleges, but also by the facilities for summer study sary chemicals will be supplied In addi 

 at the sea-shore. At present we have on the Atlantic , for regular employees, there will be roo 



certain parts of the North Atlantic deep sea carefully 

 studied. For many years all the work has been done by 

 specialists employed by Government, in a poorly adapted 

 laboratory ; but now a new building is being erected for 

 the express purpose of serving as a laboratory, and it 

 will be fitted up with all the modern conveniences for 

 zoological and microscopical study. Being supported by 

 an ample Government fund, it 1- expected that there will 

 be a good library connected with it, and we know that 

 there will be a supply of large aquaria, and that all neces- 

 "dition to the tables 

 c room for a limited 

 coasl five stations where there are facilities for students number of students from some of the larger colleges, who 

 to cany on investigations. rhese laboratories are of two will thus be offered the finest advantages for zoological 

 kinds- one where only the advanced student is allowed study to be found in America. For the use of the laboratory 

 to study, the other in which any one manifesting a there is a steam-launch, and many small boats, while the 

 sufficient interest in Nature may be allowed a chance to two steamers Albatross and Fish Hau-k are constantly 

 work upon the marine animals ; these latter are them- \ bringing in material from the deep sea and surface of the 

 selves divisible into two classes-one in which regular , ocean. Wood's Holl is excellently adapted for the pur- 

 iw uaion is given and the other where the student is j poses of a summer laboratory, both because of climate 

 supposed to stud) for himsell under the direction of an ,' and variety and abundance of animal forms. The work 

 ThT 11° ! ♦ ' ., r x- i a]r eady done from the old laboratory is of world-wide 



he laboratory at Beaufort, North Carolina, connected ' renown 

 with Johns Hopkins University, is intended as a place | This ends the list of those laboratories intended solely 

 where students o the University, and somewhat advanced ; for advanced students. Of the other class, the Summer 

 students from other colleges, can spend the summer in j Institute at Cottage City, Mass., is an example. This is 

 p,„ 11 I , , * tta,ned fur itscl( ' :l reputation a summer educational institution covering a wide variety 



equalled by no other laboratory of its character in the of subjects, and intended for teachers who are willn 



