FORCHHAMMER, G.

Om Søvandets Bestanddele og deres Fordeling i Havet. ("On the Components of Sea Water").

Kjøbenhavn, Schultz, 1859.

Small 4to. In recent half cloth with black leather title-label to front board. Previous owner's name (Julius Christian Vilhelm Schousboe) in contemporary hand to title-page. First and last leaves brownspotted. 48, LXXIV (tables) pp. + 1 large folded map.

First edition of this pioneer-work in oceanography and hydrography, as it is the first scientific investigation in this field of research.
"Forchhammer's fundamental researches on the composition of seawater brought him international acclaim. He began this work in 1843, more as a geologist than as a chemist, to explain the phenomena that give rise to the deposits on the sea floor...He carried out analyses of over 160 samples collected for him over a twenty-year period by the Danish and British navies." (DSB V: p. 72).

The work was translated into English as "On the Components of Sea Water" (1865) in Phil. Transactions.

Order-nr.: 62449