PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [May I9OI, 



father, a physician. In 1858 he became Med. Kand. ; but then 

 devoted himself to zoological work, especially to the Geographical 

 Distribution of the Lower Marine Animals. In this field Sven 

 Loven had already undertaken his epoch-making researches on the 

 difference between present and past times, shown by the fossil fauna 

 of the Bohusland shell-banks. These studies, carried on by Torell 

 under Loven's guidance, were the starting-point of his life's work. 

 During a journey to Switzerland, made in 1856, he was struck by 

 the resemblance of the Alpine moraines to the Drift of Sweden. 

 Thenceforward Torell became a geologist. Combining enthusiasm 

 with the technical knowledge of the true naturalist, he attacked the 

 difficult problem of the Pormer Submergence of Scandinavia and of 

 the neighbouring lands. At that time he accepted the popular idea 

 of the diluvial origin of the Drift-deposits ; but, on closer examina- 

 tion, he gave up this view, though satisfactory evidence was not 

 easy to obtain. 



It should not be forgotten that Lund, in Torell's student days, 

 was deficient in collections, books, and geological instruction. 

 Torell himself largely made up this deficiency. He saw that a true 

 understanding of the bygone Glacial Period could only be gained 

 through the study of the unexplored and still ice-clad Arctic 

 regions. He therefore devoted the following years to this explora- 

 tion, visiting Iceland in 1857, Spitsbergen (in company with Prof. 

 Nordenskiold) in 1858, and Greenland in 1859, thus commencing 

 the long series of Swedish Arctic expeditions. His own latest and 

 most important Arctic voyage was that undertaken, again in 

 conjunction with Prof. Nordenskiold, in 1861. To the cost of these 

 expeditions he devoted a considerable part of the property inherited 

 from his father. 



ToreU devoted the following years to Quaternary geology, gathering 

 around him at Lund a band of enthusiastic disciples. In 1860 he 

 had become AdjunJct in Zoology, and in 1866 Professor of Zoology 

 and Geology. The value of his work, however, caused him to be 

 appointed, in 1870, Chief of the Swedish Geological Survey, in this 

 post following Axel Erdmann. On his transference to the capital 

 he took the initiative in the foundation of the Geological Society of 

 Stockholm. Por over a quarter of a century, till 1897, he retained 

 his official post, labouring both for science and for the practical 

 application of geology to Swedish industries. He died on Sep- 

 tember 11th, 1900. 



Both in England and in Germany Torell was well known and liked 



