THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 



95 



covering of their huts and for transpor- 

 tation. Great numbers of these ani- 

 mals are annually slaughtered, Mr. 

 Bogoras having used as many as fifty 

 in one month as food for his dogs. 

 The price of a reindeer is a package of 

 brick tea and a bundle of tobacco, the 

 value of which is together about a dol- 

 lar. The maritime Chukchee engage 

 principally in fishing and there is a 

 good deal of exchange between them 

 and the reindeer people. 



The houses have a wooden frame cov- 

 ered with skins, sometimes protected 

 as shown in the illustration, by sods or 

 stones. The diameter of the hut or 

 tent is from fifteen to twenty-five feet, 

 and there is an inside room usually 

 about 4 ft. 6 in. in height, 7 ft. in breadth 

 and 12 ft. in length. Fifty or more 

 reindeer skins are used to cover one of 

 the huts, and they require a great deal 

 of care. New skins are used in win- 

 ter and old skins in summer. Fire is 

 used for cooking, but scarcely heats 

 the house beyond the temperature of 

 the outside air. The inner compart- 

 ment is lighted by a lamp, but is 

 heated chiefly by the bodies of the in- 

 habitants. As the inner room is used 



not only for sleeping, but also for eat- 

 ing and entertaining, every square foot 

 is occupied. 



The maritime Chukchee eat chiefly 

 the meat of sea-mammals, while the 

 others depend on tne reindeer. They 

 like raw frozen meat, and do not ob- 

 ject to its being putrid. They drink 

 tea and smoke tobacco continually, and 

 use as much alcohol, which may be 

 unrectified and undiluted 95 per cent, 

 spirit, as they can get. 



Fly-agaric is the only means of intox- 

 ication discovered by the natives of 

 northeastern Asia. It is made from 

 ■ mushrooms and appears to produce 

 effects similar to hasheesh. The sense 

 of smell of the natives is said to be 

 very acute; their color nomenclature 

 is defective, which may be due to de- 

 fective vision or to lack of interest in 

 colors. 



SCIENTIFIC ITEMS. 



Senhor Manuel Garcia celebrated 

 his hundredth birthday on March 7 in 

 excellent health. He gave the first per- 

 formance of Italian opera in New York 

 City in 1825, and was long celebrated 

 as a teacher of singing. His important 



Chukchee Winter House. 



