226 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



dandy. He owned, among other fine clothes, two very " swell " 

 frocks, one made wholly of ermine-skins piit together in stripes 

 of brown summer skins and white winter skins alternately, with 

 the tails and feet dangling, and another of blue and white fox- 

 skins put together in alternate stripes. 



The every-day frock has very little trimming except a fringe 

 of wolverine fur around the wrist, and a strip of long-haired 

 wolf-skin round the edge of the hood, so that, when the hood is 

 drawn up over the head, the long hair stands out all round the 

 face like a halo. This is not merely an ornament, but also serves 

 to protect the face against the wind. Working frocks are often 

 without even this frill. Full-dress jackets are often very prettily 

 trimmed with edging made of alternate strips of light and dark 

 skins, fringed with wolverine fur, and often ornamented with 

 little knots of red worsted. 



The breeches are usually made of heavier deer-skin than the 

 frock, so that only one pair is more often worn than a single 

 frock, and then with the hair inside. Full-dress breeches are 

 tastefully trimmed with edging like the jacket. The boots and 

 the women's pantaloons, as I have said, are generally made of the 

 skin of the deer's legs, and it is the fashion to have the white 

 patch from the inside of the deer's leg always on the outside of 

 the ankle. A specially fashionable style of boot has the leg made 

 of alternate stripes of white and brown skin, with a very pretty 

 effect. Women's pantaloons also are often made this way below 

 the knee. 



Eskimo dandies, instead of having their boots kept up by the 

 draw-strings of their breeches, have the tops finished off with a 

 fancy edging, and kept up by draw-strings of their own. To keep 

 the moccasin-like sole of the boot from getting out of shape and 

 running over on one side, there is a pair of strings fastened to the 

 edge of the sole near the heel, crossed over the instep, and tied 

 round the ankle. 



There are several kinds of material used for making boot-soles, 

 and each is supposed to be specially suited for some particular 

 purpose. For walking on dry snow, the best boot-soles are made 

 of sealskin which has been rolled up and allowed to " heat " and 

 ferment a little before drying, so that the epidermis can be scraped 

 off with the hair. This looks like cream-colored morocco and will 

 not stand the least wetting. For walking on the rough sea-ice 

 they prefer to have soles made of sealskin dressed with the hair 

 on, and worn with the flesh-side out ; but for their water-proof 

 boots they use the thicker skin of the great bearded seal, or, if 

 they can get it, of the white whale, dressed with oil. Sometimes 

 the skin of the polar bear is made into water-proof soles. The 

 white whale skin is the best material. It makes a translucent, 



