2ÖÓ
Heal* af
fe&ed by <
lerent airs
N A T t l R A L H IS T O R Y ofJVOR W A T.
Norwegian-women» MkBuffon swords concerning Olaus Rud=
beck's account are % follows § m In- Sweden; the women are very
Fruitful : Rudbcek fays that they have frequently eight, tea, of
twelve children5 and it k not stall ftrangethat fbme women fhould
haveeighteCn, twenty, twenty-fourfOt even thirty children. Rud-
beck fays farther, thatthereare men who. live to • fee upwards of
to© years old, and'foene- to 14,0; arid-that there were two in particular,
one df which drived i t ,1 ^jiaad 'the Esther at , ifib years
of age. But it is true that this writer is a little enthufiaftic in the
prailes^df^his own country, £11 eft vray que cet auteur eft un ea»
thufiafte au. fujet de fa patree) and according to his reprefenta-
tion, Sweden muft in all #efpo&£ "be’the fineft country in the
world,” &c. Buffon. HiftoireNaU Tom. iii. p. 172.
; g e q t . ix.
Though Norway, like Sweden,'is in general a very healthful
'country, yet it , is not exempted from its peculiar difeafesj 1 efpe-
&My the inhabitants of the diocefe of Bergen, along the fea-fide*
and on the weft-fide of File-field. The lair: ini thefe parts is not
very falubrious, and differs very much from that of the eafterh
and {bother* parts of Norway; for on the, other fide of that long
rfcam of mountains, I have taken notice of before, they
have both in winter and dimmer a fine clear fky, with as dry and
healthful an air as in any part of Europe.' In this province the
air is generally damp, thick» and foggy j .and tho' it^hfesinilder
winters, it is not fo healthful as a thinner air. This appears by
the efR& it has on out peafants, when they come here from other
parts of the country^ for they feem as if they were -eptoPely out
of-thdr element, and can hardly breathe in it ; nor does it agree
with their health. This muft be attributed to the jg&t
©Gsan, that extends from America to Norway, from the furface of
which a vaft quantity of damps, or particles of water, are daily
evaporated. Thefe- are daven by the feutherly, wefterly, or north-
weft winds to our coaft, without meeting with any obftrudtion,
at laft they ftrike againft the high chain of mountains mentioned
above, which arc ninety-fix Engliih-miles eaft of Bergen.
There they meet with refiftance, and being condenfed, their
gravity prevents them from rifing above the top of the mountains
to go farther^ and they cannot get back except they meet with
■ an.
N Ï Ï Ü k A L H I S T O R Y ? o& Ï Ï® Ê ÏV A T , a6t
an éaft ©r north-win’d1.' On thè'föther thofe mountains they
are'.'qulte' ’free ff dm Ijftefe d'an^sfï and fogV. Ffïe-field is’ like a
bank p p | keèp back” all tthöfe unoM Wap'öUrs that eome from the
feaf and prevenf4wheïïC loa:d^ig,)tfret afcmöfphere» till they fall in
-shmoderate rain^-Üt&ey^do here,-in the-lfummer; for it is feldom
known, to rainiMlJikofe parts but -iflsfphïg'efi' autumn.
- 1 Amongfh all, the tradinjg-toWns .in Norway,' Chriftianfand is
reckoned the moft ‘kéalthftitó >®bfe truly 'learned ail’d ReV.' Mr. Jens
Ghriftian Spidbergy'dean sof chatdtoèéfèj^givé^ me dk .Ms- letter of
May 12, BTjai^&is reafèfï for it: >He‘bkfërves^khf-Chfiftiaftfand
lies in >aiimosei'kaoi&tifdi^'hiate ühfe&'öioft%f ouf*'ót?h.er-towns;
that the horizon isi||fee Jfll round, •afrid>i. by^th^winds fifom
every quarter -r fo that .thick fogs and heavy rainsf do not'laft dong
there-| The tgipund-i¥ftands:m|)on ds’a diy'fandyfotl, twenty or
twenty-five fêet deëp$ fo-that-tbédain is, ftÈrf d r i e d '»Iföf'Vhïèh
reafon -épidémie • difeafes are-' feldom -known thefe, or! difeppear
and are. ftopt by the* change' óf the feafon.- .Hence &é; inhabitants
of that city live to beVefy -olif, often ‘ tefeighty, ninety,' ind fome-
fimes ever}-to“&n hundred years'of age. - ;-
4, Among-the'(Ëfeafes which moftiy appear in the diocefe o f varioasdi^
Bergen, which is the moft unhealthfnl fpot in all Norway, I foaITeafc5‘
firft takeUiöticejofra huidfoftfeabor itch. „This1 is' chiefly found
amongft-thbfc- that live'ddöng the cóh'ft, occaftofted probably by
eating great quantifies^1 fifh, and èfpecMy the liyef of the
cod. TBis’ds -properly a Sclbies-Scorbutica,' which may be called
a leprofy, but not fo irifèétious' as the Oliéntal Lepra \ for married
people live together-many years, and the healthy ^ 'not in-
feóted, tho-’ thé Other party has it.' But if they havé children, théy
fbmetimes take^he. infedfion, th°’ not-always. This diftemper
generally lies in the blood- a long time before any eruption appears;
at laft it breaks but in ugly, boils on the face: they are
then generally fept-to'hofpitals- ereóted' for that pufpofe, of yvhich
there is one at Bergen, and anotfiér atj Molde in -Roinfdalen. Our
phyfid&ns' are of opinion that this difeafe may be tailed ifi’jypung
people; but tho’ they have often attempted it, I do not find that
any one has been thoroughly 'cured, without fpinê remains of the
diftemper. This may be faid, however, that when drey get tol-
lerably well, ( they, do not confine, themfelves to the regimen rbgf
Part II. X x x is