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GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY.
473
as being incomparably superior to anything written up to that time in this branch
of science since the days of Agricola. A. F. Cronstedt (1722/65) carried
mine-ralogical knowledge a gigantic stride further by his excellent work, »Försök till
en mineralogi, eller mineralrikets uppställning» (Essay on a System of Mineralogy
or the Classification of the mineral kingdom), which has been translated into
several foreign languages.
In 1766, T. Bergman (1735/84) published his famous work, »Physisk
beskrifning öfver jordklotet» (Physical description of the Globe), which can be said,
in a still higher degree than the works of Linnaeus, to be a fore-runner of Werner’s
system. The work in question contains many important statements regarding the
formation and classification of the strata of the earth, their changes and
dislocations etc., statements which bear witness to an unusually clear understanding of
geological phenomena. Among other things Bergman pointed out that the
sediment deposited on the bottom of the sea must contribute to the raising of the
surface of the water, a view that in later times has been further developed and
employed to explain the rising of the sea-level. — D. Tilas (1712/72), S. G.
Hermelin (1744/1820), and V. Hisinger (1766/1852) have also made
themselves famous in the field of geological research, the two latter especially through
their geological maps. It may be truly said that, already during the 18th century,
the geological scientists of Sweden proceeded on their own course of investigation
as peers of their contemporaries in other countries, and, in many cases, even in
advance of them.
In the beginning of the nineteenth
century, N. G. Se/ström (1787/1845)
aroused attention by his observations on
the grooves and striæ inscribed in the
mountains and their regular direction.
About this time paleontology began to
flourish in Sweden, mainly through V.
Hisinger, G. Wahlenberg (1780/1851),
V. Dcdman (1787/1828), and S.
Nilsson (1787/1883), and still more through
N. P. Angelin (1805/76), who classified
the Swedish silurian strata according to
the fossil animals found in them. The
following were also remarkable as
paleontologists: G. Linnarsson (1841/81), B.
Lundgren (1843/97), and S. A.
Tullberg (1852/86). In the departments of
mineralogy, petrography and geology of
mines, A. Erdmann (1814/69) and A.
Sjögren (1822/93) were at their time
very energetic.
During the last decades, geology as
well as paleontology have made
uninterrupted progress; the silurian,
rhæt-liassic, and cretaceous series of strata,
and their fossil animal and vegetable
remains are studied and described, the
quaternary deposits are investigated with daily increasing interest and success, so
that Sweden, in these branches of geology, has in many respects led the way for
foreign scientists; moreover, the volcanic rocks are examined as to their
microscopic characters, the mysterious primitive rocks and the complicated building of
the highland-regions are the objects of research; at the Swedish universities geo-
Axel Erdmann.
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