Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Sidor ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
correctness of the same by experiment. The wealth of observations whicli
he collected from various parts of Europe is astonishing, and he did this
at a comparatively early age. Even if he did not free himself from
the incorrect view that Noah’s flood extended over the whole earth, he
nevertheless saw that many phenomena which testified to a higher
water-level in former times did not arise from the so called universal flood,
and this in itself involves a step forward in the direction of a complete
liberation from the dogma which had prevailed up to that time, and
which had exercised so restricting an influence on the development of
geology. The condition of chemistry at that time was a great
disadvan-tage to him, for he could not make use of it to arrive at a final solution
of various questions, even when he was on the right road. But the
many-sidedness, to which his geological works bear witness, is truly
remarkable; nearly all questions of great significance for the geology of
that time are touched upon by him, and still these works are but the
minor portion of his whole scientific activity, which in many respects
w^s far ahead of the times. For he was also a mathematician,
astronomer, cosmologist, physicist, mechanic, chemist, anatomist and
physiolo-gist. What Anders Retzius said concerning Swedenborg’s »Regnum
animale», that it is a »wonder-book», in which are found »ideas
belong-ing to the most recent times, a compass, induction and tendency, which
can only be compared to that of Aristotle», seems after the
experi-ence now attained to be capable of application to practically the whole
of his scientific activity. His was a mighty spirit, of which our country
has the more reason to be proud, because it was united with a
personality in every respect noble and unassuming.
The works of Swedenborg which are of geological or
partly geological content.
A. Meprinted in the edition of Swedenborg »Opera quaedam aut
inedita aut obsoleta de rebus naturalibus*, published under the auspices of
the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1—5 in the first volume, G in
the second).
1. Om watnens högd och förra werldens starcka ebb och flod.
Bewjs utur Swergie. Stockholm 1719.1
2. Anmärckningar om musslor, sneckor etc. i kalcksten; och om
skifwer. In manuscript in Codex »XL. Bibliothecae Lincopiensis».-9
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
