Ohituary—Profeasor Otto 21. Tor ell. 239 



Troniso. Several of Torell's letters to Nordenskiold are quoted 

 by Mr. Holmstrom, and it is interesting to read the words : " for 

 many years the quest of the Pole has been my idee fixe." None 

 the less the Swedish expeditions have never been mere foolhardy 

 or sensational attempts to beat the record of high latitude, but have 

 borne that truly scientific character which Torell impressed on them 

 from the first. 



Instigated by Loven, under whose penetrating influence he came 

 at the age of 20, he undertook dredgings at Kristineberg, where 

 now is the Swedish biological station, and it was here that he found 

 Yoldia arctica in the fossil state. This discovery propounded the 

 question as to the nature of former Arctic conditions in southern 

 Scandinavia, which in after life he did so much to answer. At that 

 time, however, the medical profession was his goal, and while 

 conducting researches in comparative anatomj'^ under Loven, he 

 also accompanied him on dredging expeditions in yet deeper waters, 

 and accomplished much on his own account, especially on his journey 

 to Iceland. 



Whether as teacher at Lund, as friendly companion, or as head 

 of an official establishment, Torell lost no opportunity of imparting 

 some of his own enthusiasm to others, whether students, politicians, 

 or wealthy landowners. He freed the Survey from the bonds of 

 a rigorous officialdom, and encouraged the independent scientific 

 work of the members of his staff in every possible way. But eager 

 though he was to encourage science for its own sake, he was no 

 less keen to apply it to the advantage of his native land. He 

 conducted or instigated numerous surveys, both official and private, 

 of the agronomic and technical geology of important districts. He 

 founded the great cement industries of southern Sweden, bored for 

 oil in the Silurian shales of Dalecarlia, showed the towns of Lund, 

 Malmo, and Helsingborg how to get a constant supply of pure 

 artesian water, helped to develop the sea-fisheries of Sweden, set 

 on foot researches into the marl beds and phosphorite beds, and 

 all materials suitable for the enrichment of the soil, fostered the 

 building-stone industry, sought out uses for the vast deposits of peat, 

 was a pioneer in the employment of water-gas, promoted railways 

 to exploit the resources of northern Sweden, and toiled, albeit 

 unsuccessfully, at the problem of extracting iron directly from the 

 malm-ores. 



Torell never became, as he intended and even wished, a practising 

 physician. But he did not at first find the pursuit of pure science 

 a satisfactory career, and in 1867 he even had thoughts of settling 

 in England, which shows how bad things must have been with him. 

 However, the appointment to the Geological Survey came at the right 

 moment, and Sweden kept for herself one of her most eminent men 

 of science and one of the most patriotic of her sons. 



F. A. B. 



