contrary effedl. Young children, foji
example, are not luckled more than
two or three days, and afterwards
brought up with cow»s milk, which,
in times of dearth, is mixed with flour
and water.
I remember to have heard, that this
is alfo cuftomary in fome parts o f Finland
; but a different manner o f liv-
ing may render that unwholefome
Iceland, which Is lefs fo in another
place : and I think I may fafely venture
to affirm, that the food and mode
of living in Iceland do not at all
contribute to the ftrength o f the inhabitants.
One feldom meets with
any of them above fifty or fixty years of
age, and the greater part are attacked
in their middle age by many grievous
complaints.
It is remarkable that among the female
i'ex, who there, as almofl every where
die, live to a greater age than the men,
thofe particularly who have had many
children attain to an advanced age.
d licre are a great many of this clafs, as
the women arc commonly very fruitful;
and it is no rare thing to meet with
a mo-
I
a mother who has had twelve or fifteen
children.
Among the difeafes that are moft
prevalent, the fcurvy (Skyrhiugur) is
the moft common, In fome it makes
its appearance in the fame manner
as with us, but in others it produces
the moft dreadful fymptoms, and
is then called liktraacl, or leprofy,
which, however, differs from that horrid
difeafe fo common in the Eaft. Its
firft appearances are, fwellings in the
hands and feet, and fometimes alfo in
other parts o f the body : the fkin becomes
iliining, and o f a bluifti eaft,
the hair falls off, the fight, tafte, fmell,
and touch are weakened, and often
quite loft ; biles appear on the arms,
legs, and face ; reipiration becomes
difficult, and the breath foetid; aching
pains are felt in ail the joints, à
breaking-out fpreads over the whole
body, and is at laft converted into
fores that generally terminate in
death.
The Icelanders make ufe o f an-
tifcorbutic décodions, likewife baths,
with turnips boiled in them ; but
chiefly
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