264 P. A. ØYEN. 



under the encroaching ice; and the peasant proprietor of the 

 Buer farm was contemplating the early abandonment of his 

 home and steading to the foe which, after swallowing up a 

 material portion of his pasture lands, had crept menacingly near 

 the humble ancestral walls' (L. c. p. 186). And, further on he 

 adds 'that, immense as the present snow-fields of Norway appear 

 to our view, they are mere pigmies compared with those which 

 in past ages covered the face of the peninsula. Of the ancient 

 glaciation of Norway, the traces are not simply conspicuous, 

 they are obtrusive. In 1823 they attracted the attention of 

 Professor Esmark, in Christiania; and whilst Venetz, in Switzer- 

 land, was advancing the then novel theory of the former wide 

 extension and geological activity of the Alpine glaciers, Esmark 

 was led quite independently to advance the conclusion that Nor- 

 way had had a similar history' (L. c. pp. 186. 187). (Trans, of 

 the Inverness Scientific Society and Field Club, Vol. II, 1880 — 

 1883, pp. 178—194.) 



Paa et gammelt kart fandt jeg følgende paategning: 

 „Segen Gottes Gruve — — — ved vandflommen 1789 blev 

 jorddammen ruineret, hvorpaa Gruven blev fyldt med Vand og 

 har siden lagt øde" (Copie Carte over Zwikne Kobberwærks 

 Malmfelt). 



Klimatoscillation og topografi. 



Studiet af bræernes vekslende stand har ogsaa vakt en 

 række andre betragtninger, dels en gjenopliven af gamle, halv- 

 veis eller helt glemte anskuelser og dels ny ideer. Og helt 

 igjennem empirisk som oscillationsstudiet er, har det ganske 

 naturlig øvet en reformerende indflydelse paa tilgrænsende og 

 nærliggende geologiske undersøgelsesfelter. Maalingen træder i 

 forgrunden. Men her som i fysik og astronomi: fra de nu for 

 tiden praktisk maalelige størrelser gaar man paa den ene side 

 til de „uendelig" smaa, paa den anden side til de „uendelig" store 

 jnaal, i begge tilfælde ophører det eksakte maals nøiagtighed, 



