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Dll. JON STEFANSSON^ PH.K., ON ICELAND : 



not be the last which he will give ; at any rate we have these two 

 valuable communications, and I think very few Societies in the 

 Metropolis have l^een equally favoured. (Hear, hear.) 



Iceland is certainly a country about which, until very recently, 

 we have known very little; and I was saying to Dr. Stefansson it 

 would be a very nice place to pass the winter in, because it is well 

 known that the Gulf Stream possesses such remarkable calorific 

 power while wending its way round the southern coast of Iceland 

 that perhaps while we are sufTering from bitter east or north winds 

 here, the Icelanders are enjoying a climate which probably 

 resembles that of Biarritz or the south-west of Ireland. If we had 

 only a line of steamers going as fast as the Atlantic liners we could 

 go there in about twenty-four hours from the north of Scotland ; 

 so that the day may come when in order to escape the rigours of an 

 English winter some inhabitants of the British Isles may be wending 

 their way on large steamers to Iceland in order to pass the winter 

 as they do now to the south of France. 



We are all very much indebted to Dr. Stefansson, and I move 

 the thanks of the meeting. 



Colonel Hendley. — The concluding remark, that in Iceland the 

 institutions, faith and customs of the Teutonic race are observed, is 

 interesting. I notice amongst other points, the bringing from 

 Norway of handfuls of earth to place beneath the temple altar in 

 Iceland. This was done in Hungary w^hen the Koyal Constitution 

 was proclaimed. I notice also that the institutions, faith and 

 customs of other races seem to ha \ ery much the same in Iceland as 

 those of the Teutonic races, for example, the custom of Law-givers 

 reciting the laws from memory. I would like to ask Dr. Stefansson 

 whether these Law-speakers were bards, l^ecause in Kajputana the 

 liajputs are accustomed to, and do still I believe in their homes, 

 hear all the laws and history of their race recited by their bards. 

 Another custom referred to is that of the chieftains presiding, 

 not only at meetings, ljut at temple feasts and sacrifices. This of 

 course is also a Semitic custom, but it survives in India, at Oudaipur, 

 where the Maharana or chief habitually performs the hrst portion 

 of the temple duties when he enters the temple. 



With regard to the moving I'ound the altar with a burning brand, 

 may I ask whether the direction is always that of the sun, or is 

 there any definite rule? 



