XXVI 
INTRODUCTION. 
those deemed incurable are allowed a small pit¬ 
tance for their maintenance, which does not 
altogether exceed the sum of sixty-four rix-dollars 
per annum. There is consequently no place of 
reception for the sick, and what aggravates the 
evil is, that there are but six medical men in 
the whole island, and these necessarily resident 
at such a distance from the greater number of the 
inhabitants, that they are comparatively of little 
service : their salaries are besides extremely small. 
An apothecary is commissioned to distribute 
gratis a certain quantity of medicine annually, 
for which, independent of his pay, he is allowed 
three hundred and fifty rix-dollars. To judge 
from all this, it might be concluded that Iceland 
is singularly salubrious, but, on the contrary, in 
no country is medical attendance more necessary 
than here, where the greater part of the inhabi¬ 
tants are afflicted with the most inveterate cu¬ 
taneous complaints, for which their extreme 
ignorance and the want of medicines render them 
incapable of applying either remedy or palliative. 
The sick and the lame are seen crawling about in 
almost every part of the island, presenting the 
most pitiable objects of distress and misery. 
Nor is more care taken of the females, or of pro¬ 
viding for the safety of the coming generation ; as, 
though twenty midwives are provided by govern¬ 
ment, they are grossly ignorant, and the pains 
5 
