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Uf
eafes conne£led with an eruption are
moil frequent, fo far to the North ?
Could it not alfo have happened by
means of the Crufades, our forefathers
in the North having had like-
Avife the honour to partake o f them ?
Nay, even the Icelanders were not excluded
from a fliare. The oldeil Icelandic
writings give us examples o f
the elephantiaiis in Norway, and
other northern countries, as may be
feen in the firft volume o f Olafsen’s
Voyage to Iceland, page 172. But it
ftill remains a query, whether it was
the true fcurvy or not, ivhich the
learned author found mentioned for
the firft time under the ancient Nor-
Avay and Icelandic name o f Jkyrhjugur,
that appeared in the Norway fleet in
the year 1289, during the war o f king
Ehrick with Denmark. For according
to Mr. Peterfeii^s teftlmony, the
Avord Jkyrhjugur is to this day frequently
made ufe o f to exprefs the elephantiafis
; though I muft confefs that
thefcurvy feems to be a common difeafe
among the fleets in thofe days as well
as in ours. However it would be
ufeful
ufeful for the hiftory o f the dif-
eafes common in the North, i f the
origin o f them could be determined
from thefe old accounts, efpecially
as thefe accounts of the fcurvy
are two hundred years older than any
we have been yet able to difcover.
We may moft probably expeft this
difcovery from our neighbours ia
Denmark and Norway, who elucidate
the northern hiftory from antient accounts
with fo much zeal and happy
fuccefs.
Mr. Anthony Rol. Martin relates,
that in the above-mentioned place
the number o f perfons in Norway in-
feded with this difeafe, in the year
1759» amounted to 150, for whom
three hofpitals were ereited ; and Mr.
Peterfen fixes the number o f thofe who
were ill o f it in Iceland in the year
1762 at 280 perfons, for whom four
hofpitals were eftabliflied.
You may ailc. Sir, how this difeafe
came to be fo firmly rooted in
Iceland, as it has fo decreafed in the
South, that it has almoft difappeared
there ?
X 3 I believe
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