24 & A T Ü R A L H IS T O R Y Óf ,-N O 'RW A T .
Generally; fpèsikftig,
and- even more fo than tin many other countries, <4s ptèrfbns 'elf refi
gular lives, all éircunfflMM'&dly confiderèd," arrivbdn thef# parts
to the utmoft extent of the age of man. I fliall produce many
memorable inftances of this hereafter, when I fhall particularly
treat of the inhabitants bf the country ; and the feme is eVidfcnt
from thefyeórly bills of births and: burials, which, by'hü iriajeflys
ör'der, I tranfthit to Copeïihdgéh. rl lhall here tóly tóehtion, that
hext t^ thëif plaiti and fimple'food; the Norwe^ians' ówe' their
permanent, health and longevity'More, to their air, than to Medicinal
arts and' precautions; for medicine;^ verydittle underftood
here; the little1 we know of it is learnt from foreigners; and
Wftilft the lawyers'are mever at a lofs for clients/ praöritioriërs'ih
phyfic meet with very few patients:
It is only in the chief towns that phyficians’ ar’ë óöffimonly T$13e
found, kndWiétë tlnfy aféfeftablifhèd ^atlï-l-pïïbHérfelafyy’ks Provincial
phyficiahsjjand in general have but very little’employinenp
even ifi this populous city of Bergen, amoifgthirtf thodfand fötils»'
(feilm^ indeed carry the dumber higher, but I befievb tbfey &e miP
taken) there is but' orfé, or‘ at tlie moff two“ phy'fibifeis, 'add -fliéfë
are'found fufficient; whereas in a''Gcfmah c it f’Sf Me faihe extent,
fuch as Lubeck, or Rofteck, ten or'toore may find anidi-
plë fopport. |Norw ay,’ indeed, vcanriot‘I bfe! • feid ■ to; be fetitirely^e^d
enipt frohi peflfteiitial • • - d i f t ' ë i n p É ^ kftfWH
»wr -Riifope bvjts terrible jravag^^b^’die^^rs 1 348* to 5%.
was felt! here as in^therpaTts,~anxl*-to '*Ae.fcg.r.eat^dimiwnt!ö;n of
the number of the inhabitants. I likewife fidd aeeoürits’ óf'great
numbers of people óf all ranks, fwept away in ;fhe years jlgjjftj
163©^-tod 1654. But the piercing colds-öf winster; fend' the
ftorms feexn- to be a divine- difpofition. for purifyingfflfeair, and
flopping thé prögrefs of an epidemical: difeaïbi IThfr like gqod
effeifttis produced by thunder.and Hoping, -which: difiipate the
fiilphureous andmitrpus particles in theuur. ;, Itffe a-xgpneral;notion,
ithat. flormsi and tempefls are more violent here than elfemuch
of the inward mb'ifture. The moft robuftieerfods
treme ficcityofthe air. The people of the,eafern coaft of the Red-fca ara fotne-
tirrieVoWiged to fprinkle water up the air. to njoiften it,, and when they breath, hold,
a Vét’ oföth: fo their moüths. Hamburg Magazihé, B. ix. page 3.8. •
where,
NyAMW R -teÆ I .I $[T O R Y l tâ f f i .0 R W A Y i 25
where, but in this I am .inclined'.-to. think the_Tpund impoijes on
our judgment,/ the nójfe a n d ; \of-winds-and■ j|ppiider; being
much'lpuder among>the lofty» mpuntaip^i than in.the plain,coun-r
tiy. ;-^his difference;;-I h|iy^fóimd, tfiat fometime^, tho’ feldom,
thunder is he^-rdj at^Bergen?in the winter, doubtlels becaufe that
fealbn, jofijtije year is,jhath-been ^lréad-y ^h^Wn,) attendedu with
very little;* ppreeQ^ruhvik father; if aP-4 9,fyi?9¥r^
with rnpre rain than;j(how and-hail. «
f lu ’
Xsto the humidi’tyofythe airl rairisfjn^ajg^b
at Bergen,, and.for; fane,miles? round,, .sis to be proverbial am'ong
<thet Dutch" ; I apprehend "the.. caiu fe ; may he; derfyed|rpMfMy-'from
>Vie-',High mountains» tlifare .beihg in Other, '>palrts- of ^this'diocefp'
muph higher mountains, with much lefs ’rain/,hut rather frórii the
many narrow vaHeys.gnfy creeks in Me -neighbourhood, which become
j foon filled with their own evaporations das well as thofe
from thefea, and. thefe.apeHnptXppn>(|ifpelled by.the wind or fûri-,
fhine, .except in the heat of fiimmer, wbrnnhemn has fufficient
power to drkw them up, uitoi tife operi > Mif) above thê ffimrnits of
the’mountains; ; thereto be feparated;an4 difpelled .by .the \vin<|.l
iWhereas, on'thejcontrary, in,other feafons of,the year, when the
power of the, fplgr rays is weakened,• ■ the vapours .cannpt rife.td any
confiderable,hpigHpabpve^the horizon *. flence we fee them hover
like jain-clouds, and reft not onlv ón the tops of the mountains, hut
often hang about their fides, infomuch, that the fop, may be clear;
a/d', théffmddle of tne aoeîivity oe^ctwlrM with thêfè fain-clptids ;
and when travellfers orpeafents happen to be lurprized among them,
which is a common ca^ their fight is fo obflruâèd, as.iiót ep fee
their way ; they‘breath with; difficulty,: gro\v wet and cold; and uh-
* I f the old ogin&n;,öf the fun’s’exhaling the vapours upwards, i^ötfldi rlöf prèv’ail
new, which ;holds,\that fpiall veûples of âSr are 'impelled ùp^^ôsi^arid
being lighter than the lower air, float’-in it. Woli&'V Pfiÿliç.1 Gap.' y. SjçflÙ ‘247’. t Yet
niy. çohféâurë on the'.ra'inat Bergen1 Brill keeps its ground ; fçir the efennenf naturahft
juft cited, allows thaï* the ’winter-Vapours -are- heavier,- ' and !as' fitch flnk lower into
the atmolphefe* t!r canriotj afceild’ fo ‘high, the tèguments’of tîieir frnâll- vëflcles be-
ing then conderifed, fo that the effeift produced is the fame. His words àré, Sèëli 254,
“ The vapours being ratified in’tire Heat of fummer, they then rife to a great height
in the air : Agàin,' .“ -the gretflèr'vapours, having a thick oegùxtieht and a fmall cavity,
are heavier,' ahd remain’.ip, thp loWef regiori o f the*air, this being offV more
denfe nature thlh'the uppeVj'thus in winter, the'Vapours,being condenfed By the
cold aurihg that feafon, ’retnainun,'the iower'pafts of the atmofphere.
■ lefs
Rains And.|
'damps on the
ÿrêftifiüe.'. d $
S^e a view fyf
Bergen, fig-1.