Among his more important works are--_Loerebog i de enkelte Radicalers
Chemi_ (1842); _Danmarks geognostiske Forhold_ (1835); _Om de
Bornholmske Kulformationer_ (1836); _Dit myere Kridt i Danmark_
(1847); _Bidrag til Skildringen af Danmarks geographiske Forhold_
(1858). A list of his contributions to scientific periodicals, Danish,
English and German, will be found in the _Catalogue of Scientific
Papers_ published by the Royal Society of London. One of the most
interesting and most recent is "On the Constitution of Sea Water at
Different Depths and in Different Latitudes," in the _Proceedings of
the Roy. Soc._ xii. (1862-1863).
FORCHHAMMER, PETER WILHELM (1801-1894), German classical archaeologist,
was born at Husum in Schleswig on the 23rd of October 1801. He was
educated at the Lubeck gymnasium and the university of Kiel, with which
he was connected for nearly 65 years. In 1830-1834 and 1838-1840 he
travelled in Italy, Greece, Asia Minor and Egypt. In 1843 he was
appointed professor of philology at Kiel and director of the
archaeological museum founded by himself in co-operation with Otto Jahn.
He died on the 8th of January 1894. Forchhammer was a democrat in the
best sense of the word, and from 1871 to 1873 represented the
progressive party of Schleswig-Holstein in the German Reichstag. His
published works deal chiefly with topography and ancient mythology. His
travels had convinced him that a full and comprehensive knowledge of
classical antiquity could only be acquired by a thorough acquaintance
with Greek and Roman monuments and works of art, and a detailed
examination of the topographical and climatic conditions of the chief
localities of the ancient world. These principles are illustrated in his
_Hellenika. Griechenland. Im Neuen das Alte_ (1837), which contains his
theory of the origin and explanation of the Greek myths, which he never
abandoned, in spite of the attacks to which it was subjected. According
to him, the myths arose from definite local (especially atmospheric and
aquatic) phenomena, and represented the annually recurring processes of
nature as the acts of gods and heroes; thus, in _Achill_ (1853), the
Trojan War is the winter conflict of the elements in that district.
Other similar short treatises are: _Die Grundung Roms_ (1868);
_Daduchos_ (1875), on the language of the myths and mythical buildings;
_Die Wanderungen der Inachostochter Io_ (1880); _Prolegomena zur
Mythologie als Wissenschaft und Lexikon der Mythensprache_ (1891).
Amongst his topographical works mention may be made of: _Topographie von
Athen_ (1841); _Beschreibung der Ebene von Troja_ (1850), a commentary
on a map of the locality executed by T.A. Spratt (see _Journal of the
Royal Geographical Society_, xii., 1842); _Topographia Thebarum
Heptapylarum_ (1854); _Erklarung der Ilias_ (1884), on the basis of the
topographical and physical peculiarities of the plain of Troy. His
_Demokratenbuchlein_ (1849), in the main a discussion of the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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