ticulttufis ; Ncswegica, Lochffor ssEhff. .de MedicaiiïiÊïXtiis NotVégtaJ
faffieiétóbus, EMTc’s Deferqrtiömof Nordlamd, &cc.; q
Tkè ïöfe of thé; 'mahtofoript hiftory ©£ the beaÉs .©frMörway*
by the aböve-ftiêtitioned. Mc, Peter^Nieholas lJndah is.exeeedihgly
tö b@ lamented ; it happened in- this manner. The author had
ittófinitted'hist-wwk' th his. iptiffiaie ffiemd Df^Worni}Jthsifc5fe 4
fore it waè-éofliMlftëé tö fcheprefs, Itimight undergo the rêvifal
éP • that -confiHnmatê naturalift +. With him it remained till ing
death,
carried it trabis feat at Hagefted in Silland,. wbere,ctagsther with
many other -valMbte hooks and mam#ipts,-it:Was nhfoEtmately
burnt. page 8 3 t£his Chorography* mentions another
bëökr èalföd ^fcêüKiia Ré^ è, 8>'whiêh he appeals for what is
had concerning a halte ftiek being petrified in Ëirkedal morafs,
in Sundmoer, from whence I- conclude, this böok muft have
turned upóh natural hiftoryi but as probably it wasiikmjfe a
ffiamftfipt, n was a1 gTear pity' ~fh'at thë ptïbHc w a l * benefited
by it, before if was lofty as is unqueftionably thehorfe. Tuft; a
greater calamity to the literary world* was the conflagration
Chrifiianfand, which de*
Jitoyed that invaluable affortrnem b£ csfeaions for a natural bifr
tctty'bf Norway, in which Mr. Jens Spidbérg, anéëckfiafticof
great eminence there, had with inde&tigable application fpent
foagy yeats. He was a man Gcmfmnmstély aeCQniphfoed for f©
^ ^ u n d e r ta k in g * as appears, from the ether m.onun&dtsrieis-
S Of his genhas,' which difplay a. fingiilar penetration. .and,j*0g~
ment, with an infinftecompafs of leaming,.e£pedally in phyhcs
ahd ifematfcs. -1 fhall here quote a.paffage from a tetter, with
whfeli he favoured me* dated Dec. io; . 1^56* concerning his
defigh, which he relinquifhed after the unfortunate lofi of his
maifoferipts and library. I fooutd, not have troubled the reader
: 4 m & : im em bom the Followiag men*** made t M f
do2 not appear to have heen *c0flip*htrfw.or f i f f l^ work ; Petn Uftdalktfeag-
menta hiftobæ aaimaliuin Now. MSS. q«æ penes me font. Tr. de MureNorveg.
page 3. 2 with
wiïkttós;extra<9v but it edntam's .ïbnie things, relative to my pfe-
■‘■<l ifcHs.td be lamented1 that hithérto; no pérfon. has ventured to
.undertake .a natural- biffory of Norway j for I am perfuaded that
.no «gantry, in th é ijnivejfo affords more «wifiddsi And w^aders,
"»ut -of the tbrefe/.kingdoms* of (/nature, than^ fthis, j and confe-
jquently, -there: is not a-fulyeétanoré & for thépenof a natufalifk.
cHad.M* Maupertius göne <as far^fitbi Wardehuus* or to the northr
jpaple,; jand-there- inadehis. difpqfitibns for taking the figure of .the
earthy h is caleulatieinswoiild have been attended with lefs difficulty,
and m#re certitude than al 'Toshe3- i’Had M. de Mahan taken care
to procure frpfrj* Norway* ,fpwencQtu#e obfervations on, the Aurora
Torealis* his.valuable- Traité Phyfique de TAurprt Boreate, had
heen eomp^eiWdl'deQhiye \ srfop^éjitisrfeh light ^^ takes
its rife frtMn .|^erW%y, and pjartiGularly from the ^e^fo qf i^ront-
heim. •:; Gonfidêrable additiqns might. have ^, been^. made. to Redi,
dc? -infedtes,
hadth^Tife&i and obferving
cprrflpondent m-Nprway, whei;e aare feyeral mibesqjnknown either
in Italy,- Holland, or. France. , Linnajusj by his ohferyations in
Sweden*,,Jufs enriched botany nn?re ■ than Tournefort* . by all the
!or-ln .hk;tfa'wls1fo;^fe.Eey:^t.: I
need only, mention the article of teetalluf^f, in v^rhich Norway
forpafleg. all other countries,, ffaducing all kinds of minerve and
metals* foomrgokl, tafulphur and lead. In li|te manner-,1 p^s
over thn numberkfi heafts^ birds, and fifoes peculiar to Norway^
r%eS> ,% f the; fpveral alp^atipns, of foe
air, ^...bufalasl all.thefa thing*.fuefo is the in«dgittocy and
ignorance of „die pepplc„are flall..ahnoft unknowii-j alt lea§ I
have-not ,yet heard of any on^equah to the talk, who has at-
temptei to place, in a |u;opqp'lights Peter NieholaSrDndaly
to _whpm. we owe. a. inflation of : ^nprre Stmrlefous, and a dvil
ludoryof .Nox^ay, had^ it feerns, alfo compofetl a natural hiftöry,
hut it being fent to Copenhagen for approbation, was fupprefied’
« r