October 15, 1896] 



NA TURE 



0/ 



in tlie peninsula of Keykjancs alone. The capital is 

 situated on its northern side, and thus only fifty to sixty 

 miles from the devastated districts. Some of the in- 

 habitants of the town camped out, but none of its houses, 

 «hich are mostly of timber, collapsed. The pictures 

 hanging in the Parliament House were all thrown out of 

 position, and rifts w-cre \isible in the plastered ceiling. 



The eruption of February 27, 1878, is the last one re- 

 corded in the vicinity of Hckla. The craters, through 

 which it took place, are situated about four miles to the 

 north-east of Hekla, in one of its outlying spurs. This 

 eruption was preceded by severe earthquakes in the 

 adjacent districts. These, howe\er, caused very little 

 damage. 



Mr. Th. Thoroddsen has given the only account and 

 full list we possess of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes 

 in Iceland within historic times. A restiine ol it is found 

 in the Geological Magazine^ 1S80, pp. 458-467. A much 

 fuller translation, with a bibliography on the subject, is 

 given by Mr. George H. Boehmer in the Smithsonian 

 Report for 1885, pp. 495-541 (Washington, 18S6). It 

 appears that no earthquakes in the history of the island 

 were experienced over such an extensive area as the 

 present ones. 



The earliest recorded earthquake in Iceland took place 

 in .\.i). 1013. Of fifty-five recorded earthquakes, more 

 than one half were not preceded, accompanied, or 

 followed by eruptions. The earthquakes of 1789 were 

 most severe. The section of land between the chasm of 

 Almannagji and that of Hrafnagjii settled 60 centi- 

 metres, and new hot springs were formed. But the aiea 

 was restricted to the district of Arnessysla, and no 

 volcanic eruption took place from 1783 to 1821. Thus it 

 is probable that, though the present earthquakes may 

 not discontinue for some months yet, they will not be 

 followed by an eruption. The largest number of erup- 

 tions — fourteen — have taken place in the eighteenth 

 centuiy, and it will be observed that both earthquakes 

 and eruptions are, in each period, concentrated in certain 

 districts of the country, and that, in succeeding each 

 other in time, they rarely make large jumps. It is only 

 the want of seismographic stations which prevents 

 Iceland from being an object-lesson in seismology such 

 as Japan. Iceland, however, cannot any longer with 

 justice be counted among the unexplored regions of the 

 earth. Mr. Thoroddsen has, during the last sixteen 

 years, systematically explored a part of the island every 

 year, and now that he has reached the end of his labours, 

 it is to be hoped that the scientific world will not have to 

 wait long for the publication of the results of his explora- 

 tions. They promise to be of the highest interest, and 

 will modify in many respects geological views regarding 

 Iceland. The geological map of Iceland, published by 

 Ur. Konrad Keilhack in 1886, is not to be depended 

 upon, for its German authors have put down as actual 

 facts many things which then were only assumed and 

 surmised. J. StefaNSSON. 



THE GERMAN ASSOCIATION. 

 T N the presence of the Empress Frederick, and under 

 ■•■ the presidency of Geheimrath Prof. Dr. Hugo von 

 Ziemssen, of Munich, the sixty-eighth meeting of the 

 "deutscher Naturforscherund Aerzte," founded at Leipsic 

 on September 18, 1822, was opened in the Saalbau, 

 Krankfort-on-the-Main, on the morning of Monday the 

 2 1 St ultimo. After the preliminary speeches by Prof 

 Moritz Schmidt and other citizens, the President briefly 

 addressed the gathering ; but the principal speakers were 

 Prof Hans Buchner, who devoted his address to " Biologie 

 und Gesundheitslehre" ; Dr. Neumayer, to Antarctic 

 Ex|)loration ; and Prof. Lepsius, to "Cultur und Eiszeit." 

 The gathering was then broken up into thirty sections 

 NO. 1407, VOL. 54] 



eleven of which were for the Naturalists, and nineteen for 

 the various Medical and Surgical branches. The sectional 

 meetings were held morning and afternoon (9 a.m. to 

 6 p.m.) till midday on Friday, and were well attended, 

 there being, so far as could be estimated (the officials 

 being unable to supply the precise figures), about 2500 

 gentlemen and 500 lady members. As there were some 

 hundreds of papers under discussion during these days, 

 and the titles of them alone would occupy several pages 

 of N.\TURE, it will be sufficient here to mention only a 

 few dealt with in some of the sections. Prof Quincke 

 opened the Physics Section with a paper " Ueber 

 Rotationen im constanten elektrischen Felde,"' followed 

 by Dr. Tuma, " Ersatz fiirden Ruhmkorft"'schen .-\.pparat." 

 " Ueber Beriihrungselektricitat," by Prof Nernst ; " Ueber 

 den Vorgang bei langsamer Oxydation," by Prof. J. H. 

 van 't Hoft"; " Grundlagen seines neuen -Systems der 

 Elemente," by Dr. Traube ; " Ueber die physikalische 

 Isomerie," by Dr. Carl Schaum ; "Demonstration einer 

 Tafel des Systems der chemischen Elemente," by Dr. 

 Wiechert ; "Zur Elektrochemie des Kohlenstoffs," by 

 Dr. Coehn ; and " Ueber Kathodenstrahlen, ' by Prof. 

 Lenard, were some of the communications discussed by 

 the Physicists alone or with the Chemists. The Sections 

 for Zoology, Pathology and Pathological Anatomy, and 

 Physiology, joined in a discussion of the paper by Dr. 

 Born, " Ueber kiinstlich hergestellte Doppelwesen bei 

 Aniphibien.'' The Section devoted to Ethnology, Anthro- 

 pology, and Geography, had very little work to do, a day 

 sufficing to get through it. Dr. Canheim had a paper on 

 the Faroe Islands, and Dr. Rein on the North Coast of 

 the Island of Hondo (Japan), and the Land and Sea 

 Fauna of Kamaishi. \\'ith nineteen sections out of the 

 thirty, the medical men were able to discuss a greater 

 variety of topics than the physicists. \'ery interesting 

 papers were read by Dr. Diiubler on " Die Beri-Beri- 

 krankheit," and by Dr. Glogner, of Batavia, on " Neure 

 Untersuchungen iiber den klinischen \'erlauf und die 

 Aetiologie der Beri-Berikrankheit," and by Dr. Plehn, 

 from the Cameroons, on " Erkrankungen der schwarzen 

 Rasse in Kamerun vom October I, 1894, bis April, i8g6." 

 But the doctors' field-day was Wednesday, when the 

 Medical Sections, and a considerable number of members 

 from the Physical Sections, assembled in the Saalbau, 

 under the presidency of Prof. His, to discuss the latest 

 discoveries in brain investigations. Prof Flechsig's 

 subject was " Die Localisation der geistigen X'organge" ; 

 Prof Edinger's " Die Entwicklung der Gehirnbahnen in 

 der Thierreihe " ; and Prof Ewald's " Ueber die Bezie- 

 hungen zwischen der motorischen Hirnrinde und dem 

 Ohrlabyrinth." The closing general meeting was held 

 in the same room on Friday morning, when Dr. Max 

 V'eruorn discoursed on " Erregung und Lahmung" ; Dr. 

 Ernst Below, on " Die praktischen Ziele der Tropen- 

 hygiene " ; and Prof. Carl Weigert, on " Neue Fragestel- 

 lungen in der pathologischen Anatomie." 



Not the least important features of the Congress were 

 the facilities afiVirded for inspecting the technical high 

 schools, and the chemical and other establishments in 

 the neighbourhood. Praise is due to the several local 

 committees for the excellent manner in which they 

 carried out their duties, the entertainments having been 

 arranged on a most liberal scale, exery night being 

 devoted to recreation. .\t the close of the Sectional 

 meetings on Friday, Profs, von Ziemssen, Konig, and 

 the principal members of the Society proceeded to 

 Friedrichshof, by command of the Empress Frederick, 

 while the general body broke up into some half-dozen 

 parties, who were conveyed to as many places in the 

 country — to Darmstadt, to inspect the Technical Institute ; 

 to Hochst, to see the .Serum establishment, &c. About 

 500 members accepted the invitation of the town of 

 Homburg to jiroceed there on Saturday to breakfast, 

 drive to the ruins of the Roman fortifications of Saalburg 



