CRUISE OF STEAMER CORWIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. — 27 
their origin. The existence of the dartrous, scrofulous, rheumatic, and even syphilitic diseases, 
along with personal uncleanliness, must necessarily result in such lesions of the skin as eczema, 
psoriasis, ichthyosis, pityriasis, and tinea favosa, all of which I saw among the Eskimo. Although 
affections of the scalp were quite common, especially in children, I noticed but one case of baldness, 
which leads me to doubt the statement of several medical men to the effect that wearing fur caps 
is one of the causes of loss of the hair. If this were true every Eskimo pate ought to be as bald 
as the palm of the hand. 
It is also doubtless true that the numerous catarrhs and bronchial and pulmonary troubles are 
only internal manifestations of the diatheses previously mentioned. When the Corwin was along 
the Siberian coast in June and July not a man on board had a cold, yet nearly all the natives we 
met with were suffering from coughs and colds. The same thing was observed by our sledge party 
who went up the coast, and Lieutenant Schwatka informs me that rheumatic and pulmonary 
complaints were the principal ones noticed by him. Notwithstanding Mr. Kennan’s mention of a 
reindeer picket in an atmosphere of —60°, it is indeed questionable whether Eskimo can endure 
cold as well as well-fed white men. Though clad in furs, [ have often seen them shivering from 
cold, when our crew, with only the ordinary winter clothes of sailors, experienced no discomfort. 
Among their more common ailments are boils and epistaxis, the latter having been noticed by 
former travelers, and Mr. Nelson informs me that it is quite common among the fur traders of the 
Upper Yukon, who attribute it to a plethorie condition brought about by an almost exclusive diet 
of animal food. 
Our hyperborean nosology would be incomplete without some mention of nervous diseases, 
which late authorities assume to be one of the sequel of civilization. They would, perhaps, 
come nearer the truth to ascribe them, as Dr. Draper has done, to the introduction and extension 
of that senseless and filthy habit, the use of tobacco. Mr. Petroff informs me that hysteria, 
epilepsy, and paralysis are common diseases among the interior tribes, who also believe in and 
practice Shamanism. Instances of excessive nervousness have come under my notice, one of aman 
so shaky that his infirmity was a source of merriment to hiscompanions. I treated one patient for 
insomnia and another for epilepsy. I saw also two cases of chorea, one each of paraplegia and 
of cerebral hemorrhage with hemiplegic symptoms (both at Point Barrow), one of suicidal mania, 
and I know of at least three deaths from cerebro-spinal meningitis. 
To what cause a late authority would assign the existence of these diseases I am unable to say, 
but enough has been seen to convince that nervous diseases are not.confined to civilized communi- 
ties, as many persons believe; and, indeed, a distinguished medical author, who sees in spiritual- 
ism a form of nervous derangement, might, after observing Shamanism and its results, be in 
possession of enough neurological material for a new chapter in his work on that subject. 
GENERAL REMARKS ON THE NORTHERN INHABITANTS. 
But it is from an anthropological point of view that the Eskimo coming under observation 
proved most interesting. The term Eskimo may be held to include all the Innuit population living 
on the Aleutian Islands, the islands of Bering Sea, and the shores both of Asia and America 
north of about latitude 64°. In this latitude on the American coast the ethnical points that differ- 
ence the North American Indian from the Eskimo are distinctly marked. It cannot, however, 
be said that the marks of distinction are so plain between the American Eskimo and the 
so-called Tsuchtschi of the Asiatic coast. I have been unable to see anything more in the way 
of distinction than exists between Englishmen and Danes, for instance, or between Norwegians and 
Swedes. Indeed, it may be said that much of the confusion and absurdity of classification found 
in ethnographie literature may be traced to a tendency to see diversities where few or none exist. 
To the observant man of travel who has given the matter any attention, it seems that the most 
sensible classification is that of the ancient writers who divide humanity into three races, namely, 
white, yellow, and black. Cuvier adopted this division, and the best contemporary British 
authority, Dr. Latham, also makes three groups, although he varies somewhat in details from 
Cuvier. In accordance with the nomenclature of Latham, the Eskimo may be spoken of as 
Hyperborean Mongolidie of essentially carnivorous and ichthyophagous habits, who have not yet 
emerged from the hunting and fishing stage. 
