THE LAMP OF THE ESKIMO. 1033 



vision for saving the oil which may drop from the lip of the lamp. To 

 keep the floor clean to prevent the lamp sinking into the snow, thus get- 

 ting out the level and also conducting away the heat of the stone, a 

 support is placed under it. This may consist of pegs of wood or pieces 

 of bone stuck in the snow, a wooden block hollowed to catch the oil, or 

 a block with three legs forming a stool. The forms will be figured later 

 in the detailed description of the lamps by localities. No especial 

 device for tipping the lamp in order to increase the supply of oil to the 

 wick has been noticed. This is accomplished in a rude way by altering 

 the position of the lamp on the supports, or by raising the rear support. 

 Many lamps from their form incline toward the wick at a low angle. 

 (See plate 17.) 1 



The oil is placed in the shallow reservoir and the supply is some- 

 times kept up by suspending a piece of blubber near the flame. The 

 fat nearly always needs some preparation before being put into the 

 lamp. This is effected among the Central Eskimo by beating the blub- 

 ber to break up the fat globules, allowing the oil to come out as soon 

 as it is melted. In summer the blubber is chewed and ejected into the 

 lamp.^ 



The woman's knife or nlii and the fat scrapers which have been the 

 subjects of two valuable jiapers by Dr. O. T. Mason, are closely asso- 

 ciated with the feeding of the lamp. 



The ulu is employed for cutting or mincing the blubber and the scoop 

 or scrai)er for removing the fat from the inner surface of the skins. 

 It is also used to transfer the fat to the lamp. The oil is allowed to 

 stand level with the lower edge of the wick. The latter is made by 

 rolling compact dried sphagnum moss, willow catskins, or jieat between 

 the palms with a small quantity of fat. Women often carry little bags 

 of the prepared moss." The line of wick is applied in an even ridge 

 along the straight edge of the lamp, which varies in length from 2 to 

 30 inches in different localities. This may be seen by contrasting the 

 wide lamp of the far north with those of the south at Kadiak and the 

 middle region, which have a very narrow lip. This seems to be due to 

 the smaller need for light in the south, where the arctic night is not so 

 long. However, Asiatic or othei" influence to the west may be the 

 cause. Sometimes the wick is laid for only a portion of the length 

 when only a small flame is required. Lamps with partitions adjusted 

 and fastened in with cement are found at Point Barrow. Sometimes 

 a large lamp is reduced to five concavities by low septums in order to 

 increase the length of the wick edge when extra flame is needed. The 

 care of the lamp is quite an acquirement. The wick must be dense or 



^A piece of skin is often placed under the lamp as a "catch all." Many lamps 

 from various countries arc made double for this purpose. 



2 Dr. Franz Boas, The Central Eskimo, Sixth Auntial Report of the Bureau of 

 Ethnology, 1884-85, p. i545. 



3The Greenland Eskimo used a wick of asbestus, thus forestalling the modern 

 indestructible wick. W. E. Parry, Second Voyage, London, 1822, p. 51. 



