Shee feares a downright raine;
But when she doffs it, you will finde
The raine is o'er, and still the winde,
And Phœbus Sloane againe."
What is the origin of this name having been given to the said clump of trees?
J. B. Whitborne.
Communications with Iceland.—In the summer of 1851 I directed attention to the communications with Iceland. I am just informed that the Danish government will send a war steamer twice next summer to the Faroe Islands and to Iceland,
calling at Leith both ways for passengers. The times of sailing will probably be announced towards spring in the public prints. This opportunity of visiting that strange and remarkable island in so advantageous a manner is worthy of notice, as desirable modes of getting there very rarely occur.
The observing traveller, in addition to the wonders of nature, should not fail to note there the social and physical condition, and diseases of the inhabitants. He will there find still lingering, fostered by dirt, bad food, and a squalid way of living, the true leprosy (in Icelandic, spetalska) which prevailed throughout Europe in the Middle Ages and which now survives only there, in Norway, and in some secluded districts in central and southern Europe. He will also note the remarkable exemption of the Icelanders from pulmonary consumption; a fact which seems extraordinary, considering the extreme dampness, inclemency, and variability of the climate. But the consumptive tendency is always found to cease north of a certain parallel of latitude.
Wm. E. C. Nourse.