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specie dollars, and the surgeons 150 specie dollars
each per annum.
32. Q. The articles of diet peculiar to Iceland ?
A. Meat, milk, fish both fresh and dried,
bread made of imported corn, cabbages, potatoes!
game, fresh-water fish, Iceland moss, which is used
ior porridge in some parts of the island.
O d s .~ It may here be observed, that in this
bleak and dreary region of the globe, with
a climate of the worst description, and a
soil two-thirds of which is wholly barren, and
the rest but sparingly covered with indigenous
plants of stunted growth, most of the articles
of diet, beyond fish and butcher’s meat, must
he imported. In the vegetable kingdom,
however. Nature has not been niggardly in
endowing many of their plants with qualities
which have fitted them for the nutriment of
men and cattle, and others for domestic utility.
Dr. Hooker has collected and arranged most
of these in his “ Flora Islándica” from various
sources, and from his own researches on the
spot; and, as I conceive, they may properly
be introduced here, in addition to the very
general answer returned to this question
i. Pinguiuscula vulgaris. The Icelanders make
use of this instead of gewhe.— Voyage en
Islande.
ii. Elymus arenarius. The seeds are occasionally
made into a sort of bread.
iii. Polygonum historfa. The roots are often
eaten raw, and sometimes converted into
bread.
iv. Angelica Archangelica. The Icelanders
gather the stems and roots of this plant, which
they eat raw, and generally with the addition
of fresh butter.
V . Rumex digynus. All the species of rumex
(of vvhich there are three others) are boiled
and eaten by the Icelanders, though only
the young shoots of the acutus are employed.
Of the acetosa, a beverage is made by the
common people, by steeping the plant in
water till all the juice is extracted. This
drink is kept some time, but soon becomes
bad and putrid in warm weather.
vi. Silene acaulis. Boiled, and eaten with
butter, by the Icelanders.
vii. Potentilla anserina. The roots are frequently
eaten in the southern parts of the
island.
viii. Cochlearia Danica. Occasionally eaten as
spinach, and reckoned of service in the cure
of the scurvy, though seldom made use of.
ix. Trifolium repens. The peasantry in the
northern and eastern parts of the island use it
as pulse.— Voyage en Islande.
X . Gyrophora hirsuta. Povelsen describes this
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A