size, these latter being, also, covered with a
thick and almost white skin, lying in great
wrinkles; yet she still complained of no particular
pain, and seemed to walk with tolerable
ease. This terrible complaint is well known
to be hereditary, but it nevertheless frequently
happens, that the children of those
affected are, for many generations, quite free
from it; an instance of which presented
itself in the son of this very woman, who
was constantly with her, and yet shewed not
the least symptom of the malady; but, on
the contrary, was one of the most healthy
and beautiful children which this country
had offered to my view. Neither, indeed,
does it appear to me to be infectious, any
more than another cutaneous disorder already
mentioned as common in the island. It is
said to have existed in Iceland ever since
the first colonization of the country, and is
supposed by many to have been brought
over at that time from Norway, where, according
to some accounts, it may be traced
to a period of high antiquity. Its prevalence
and virulence are, probably, in a great
degree, ascribable to the use of woollen
clothes*, and to the mode of living and
habits of the natives; for they take but
little exercise, except in the fishing-season,
when they are continually wet with salt
water; and their food is peculiarly calculated
to promote scorbutic affections, consisting,
at the time of fishing, almost entirely of
fresh fish, and at other times of dried fish,
in both cases generally unaccompanied with
vegetables. The inhabitants of the canton of
Bardestrand, and those who live near Patrix-
fiord, are said to be in the habit of making
use of antiscorbutic vegetables, and to be,
consequently, more free from the disease.
The plants that I met with about Skalholt,
were such as I had elsewhere seen, excepting
only one or two grasses, which appeared new
to me. Ranunculus lapponicus was here
very abundant, as was the Konigia, and a
new species of Carex, which I had before
met with near Reikevig. On the walls of
the houses grew Draba contorta and Tor-
tula subulata: Angelica archangelica, too,
* The elephantiasis used to be equally prevalent in
Great Britain, previous to the introduction and adoption
of linen, instead of the woollen clothes then universally
worn.