IBVING 

 DISCUSSION 



MILLER: As Dr. Irving stated, Figure 13 summarizes one 

 aspect of a study made at Barrow late last winter mvolving Eskimo 

 and white subjects. Several of the whites were normally cold- 

 exposed to a considerable extent, while others received little if 

 any cold exposure. In Figure 13 you see finger cooling rates of 

 Eskimo girls, aged about 11 to 12, Eskimo boys of the same age, 

 outdoor or cold- exposed whites, and indoor, non- cold- exposed whites 

 and Eskimo adults with varying degrees of cold exposure. The lines 

 connect points representing cooling rates of five different fingers 

 averaged for the individuals in each group. Cooling rates were cal- 

 culated from temperature determinations made at 30 -second inter- 

 vals during an initial five- minute cooling period. There appears to 

 be a definite relationship between hand volume and the initial five- 

 minute cooling rate. The smaller fingers of the children show a 

 more rapid initial cooling rate than the adult fingers. Ignoring the 

 group of indoor or non-cold- accustomed whites for the moment, 

 it may be seen that the relationship between initial cooling rate and 

 hand volume among the various groups is approximately linear, 

 the cooling rate being decreased with increasing hand volume. The 

 most striking feature exhibited by the slide is the fact that the 

 indoor non- cold- exposed white group exhibits an anomalously high 

 cooling rate in comparison with adult Eskimos and cold-exposed 

 whites. This more rapid cooling rate is most prominent in the little 

 finger, although it is exhibited to a noticeable degree even by the 

 thumb. Another point of interest is the degree of variation among 

 different fingers within each subject group. Variation among cool- 

 ing rates of different fingers is greatest in the group with the 

 smallest hand size, the Eskimo girls, and decreases steadily with 

 increasing hand volume, again with the exception of the indoor 

 whites. The degree of variation within the whites not accustomed 

 to cold was almost identical to that of the Eskimo uoys. The fact 

 that white men not accustomed to cold exhibited a finger cooling 

 response significantly different from that of Eskimo men, despite 

 almost identical average hand volumes, would seem to indicate that a 

 difference in circulatory response to hand cooling is present between 

 the two groups. Whether this difference, if real, is due entirely 



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