in 



OLAFSEN A.N'D PO^ELSEn's 



In the smoke or steam near the surface., to Q0° : the heat is con- 

 sequently rather greater in the springs of Gives than in those of 

 Reykhokz. 



With respect to what we lately observed about the plunging of 

 birds in the hot water, we have ancient authority for the relation. 

 Halfdan Jensen affirms the same thing, and asserts that many 

 respectable persons of his time had attentively noticed the swim- 

 saiBg of the birds in the springs of Gives. We were told as 

 n fact, that these birds not merely swim, bat dive beneath the 

 boiling water ; and that when a man approaches, they remain a 

 long time under it, and sometimes never rise again. They are, 

 however, not often seen; for three or four months sometimes 

 elapse between the periods of their appearance, and there are 

 only a few select springs to which they repair in winter. We 

 dare not give the lie to the assertions and attestations of persons 

 of credit; but if we consider these birds to be natural, how 

 many objections may we not oppose to the relation ! Their plu- 

 mage, beaks, and legs, if defended by a callous skin, might pos- 

 sibly resist the boiling water while swimming; but when they dive 

 what becomes of their eyes? Perhaps these organs are of a par- 

 ticular nature, and we may be told that the salamander has eyes, 

 but we now know that that animal does not live in fire, as was 

 formerly supposed; it only passes rapidly round, and goes through 

 a short portion of this element. We must also ask, of what na- 

 ture is the blood of these birds. We know that that of birds in ge- 

 neral is light, and on this account sea-birds cannot dive. To 

 this it may be answered, that the thermal water is much lighter 

 than any other, and that ducks are in general heavy. The ex- 

 cessive heat however of these springs is such, that no ordi- 

 nary bird could immerse itself in them without instant destruc- 

 tion. We therefore think, that if the birds in question do exist, 

 they must be amphibious, and in this case would afford a great 

 and interesting novelty for naturalists. 



OF THE AUROItA BOREALIS. 



This meteor is frequently seen in Iceland from the decline of 

 day till midnight ; at which hour it generally disappears, and does 

 not occur again during the night, though the atmosphere be 

 serene. This event, however, takes place only in dark nights; 

 for when the moon is full, or nearly so, the aurora borealis is 

 scarcely ever seen : yet it sometimes happens, that when the 

 moon appears in all its splendour, the aurora borealis rises in the 

 distant horizon, approaching towards the lamp of night, and as 

 it advances it loses all its brilliancy. On the 18th November, 

 1753, the aurora borealis appeared in the south-east horizon at 

 seven in the evening, and extended at first in a luminous arch 



