The Icelandic Canadian - 01.11.2007, Blaðsíða 23

Vol. 61 #2
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
65
Eyrarbakki in Arnessysla, where he
remained until the spring of 1855. He then
took a trip to investigate the feasibility of
mining sulphurous deposits near Krisuvik
and the Hengla Mountains. He also trav-
elled north to Thingeyjarsysla to inspect
sulphur mines at Brennisteinn Mountain
and Hver Slope. He then reported on these
travels with great discernment and outlined
the potential benefits of these mines in a
letter to Jon Sigurdson, which was printed
in the periodical The New Company
Script, pp. 24-82.
During the winter of 1851-52 Dr. Jon
Hjaltalin lived at Eyrarbakki, and in the
spring he went on a journey to the eastern
part of Arnesysla to inspect hot springs
located in that area. Later he travelled west
to Borgarfjordur to examine sulphurous
springs located in that district. While he
lived at Eyrarbakki he also studied the dis-
ease braxy. Later in the summer of 1852,
he sailed to Copenhagen where he stayed
the following winter. When he came back
to Iceland in the summer, he undertook the
task of burning seaweed to extract pharma-
ceuticals for medicinal purposes, including
gloiber salt and other materials. He con-
tinued such activities for the next few years
until he accepted an appointment asf chief
medical officer for Iceland. He determined
that the cost of preparing seaweed for med-
ical purposes was not justified, and there-
fore discontinued the project.
When the previous chief medical offi-
cer, Dr. Jon Thorsteinsson, died in
February of 1855, the representative of the
King appointed Jon Hjaltalin as his
replacement with all the duties, rights, and
privileges attendant upon the office, and, as
a consequence, Jon Hjalatlin moved to
Reykjavik early in the fall. His appoint-
ment was confirmed by the King on
September 18th of the same year. He car-
ried out his duties until he resigned on July
19th 1881.
In 1859, Dr. Jon Hjaltalin was appoint-
ed a member of the Althing (Icelandic
Parliament) by the King, and he remained a
member until 1881. That the position of
chief medical officer has gained the promi-
nence it has, is largely due to Jon Hjaltalin.
Even if he had done nothing else to further
progress in the land of his ancestors, he
gained the recognition and gratitude of his
countrymen.
From the time of his appointment as
chief medical officer, Dr. Jon Hjaltalin real-
ized that Iceland was without sufficient
medical services. There were only seven
doctors in the whole country, and the like-
lihood of maintaining a doctor in each of
the seven jurisdictions was uncertain unless
a medical school could be established in the
country. It was always difficult to replace
a district physician, and one of the districts
had already been without a doctor for a
number of years. One strategy was to offer
financial assistance to a medical student if
he agreed on graduation to serve an outly-
ing area. Dr. Hjaltalin outlined clearly his
opinions on these and other matters in an
issue of New Company Script in 1844,
entitled "Concerning the Replacement of
Physicians in Iceland". He pursued the
same goals in his letters to Jon Sigurdsson,
and in these letters he clearly demonstrates
that health care was in a poor state and
would remain so until a medical school and
hospital were established in the country. It
may be justly stated that improving the
health care system was the cause closest to
his heart when he was appointed chief
medical officer, and I shall endeavor to
delineate the progress he made on these
matters during his lifetime.
The first step Dr. Jon Hjaltalin took in
this matter after he had become a "lands
doctor" was that he put forth a motion at
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