The elaborate construction which Rudbeck had completed by means of ingenious deductions and learned guesswork succumbed with the political grandeur of Sweden. “The Atlantica,” which once had its place beside the Bible on the tables of the mighty ones, was ridiculed and forgotten. On the continent of Europe, where similar books had been written in Germany and Holland, making for these respective countries similar claims, “The Atlantica” was at first received with surprise and admiration, later with doubt and criticism. The work, in spite of its mistakes, proved a foundation for archæological research, which gradually was developed into a science. In order to support the boldest and most impossible theories, the almost unparalleled power of combination of an eminent genius has brought together material which for the first time gave the suggestion of relationship between the Teutonic and the classical languages of Greece and Rome. Rudbeck was also the first to point out the unmistakable resemblance of the Old Norse and classical mythologies, as to the origin of which modern scholars have reached no absolute certainty, but radically different conclusions. The importance which Rudbeck placed upon popular customs and traditions was too great, but it has favorably influenced later students of ethnography and folk lore. If Rudbeck had limited himself to the demonstration that Sweden has been not the cradle of all races, but the original home of the Teutonic branch of the Aryan race, he might have been able to offer a theory, the truth of which modern science lacks, and forever may lack, the resources to disprove. Rudbeck had not been entirely without opponents in Sweden. The most noted among them was John Peringskiold, who criticised the opinion expressed by Rudbeck that the Runes were the oldest alphabet of the world. Peringskiold was a fine Icelandic scholar, and the first editor of Snorre Sturleson’s “Heimskringla.” A typical and highly valuable illustrated work from this period is the “Svecia Antiqua et Hodierna,” by Eric Dahlberg, the renowned quartermaster of Charles X. The text, written by Dahlberg and translated into Latin by several scholars, was never published, the magnificent engravings not before 1716. The latter give an impressive portrayal of architectural Sweden during the reigns of the three Charleses, but are not quite reliable, as some of the castles and palaces in this work are provided with additions and embellishments which were never more than projected.