218 Morten P. Porsild. 



a spacious cavity, that it may contain plenty of blubber in the 

 process of thawing and melting — for when the lamp is once started, 

 the blubber must gradually melt itself to oil, as required. On the 

 other hand, in a capacious lamp, the blubber can — if necessary 

 — be removed from the flame, when the melting process is to be 

 diminished. A lamp for heating and cooking purposes must there- 

 fore be flat, big, and with one side straight and one curved. 



The material may often be insufficient for this, but then it may 

 perhaps allow the reservoir to be deepened. In that case it is often pro- 

 vided with a ridge behind which the blubber can be placed. The ridge is 

 pierced by one or more small holes, through which the oil flows into 

 the space containing the wick. The ridge, in addition, increases the 

 durability of the lamp. Such lamps are often elliptical or quite round. 



In Arctic regions proper, train-oil is the only fuel, and there the 

 lamps are large; where other fuel — heather, wood, peat or coal — 

 is available, either the whole year round or only in the summer, the 

 lamp used for burning blubber oil loses its importance as a heater, 

 and is used solely for illuminating purposes. For this, small speci- 

 mens may suffice. But a surplus of light and heat is inevitably 

 connected with the Eskimo idea of luxury ; therefore big lamps 

 are also found in such regions. Even by the colonial Greenlanders 

 of our own time a surplus of light and heat is considered necessary 

 for birthdays, Christmas and other festivals: the more stearin candles 

 are lighted the better. Conversely, small and rudely made lamps for 

 burning blubber oil are found also in the regions of the Far North. 

 The reason for this may either be lack of material, or these lamps 

 may be intended for some particular purpose — for use on journeys 

 or for illuminating the entrance or corners inside the house. 



As soapstone is generally soft, free from nodules, and easily 

 worked the quality of the tools has but slight influence on the form 

 of the lamps. Of course the work is more finely finished when iron 

 tools are available, but there is no essential difference between 

 such lamps and those made with drill and stone-knives. 



In the straight side intended for the wick, there is usually a 

 small ledge for the support of the wick, so that it is easier to 

 keep its tip at a fixed level. In West Greenland there are still 

 a number of old stone lamps in use, but I have never seen a moss- 

 wick; for this there is now always substituted a strip of linen, even 

 in the poorest dwellings. As the linen wick can easily absorb the 

 train-oil from the bottom of a deep lamp, the ledge mentioned above 

 becomes a drawback and is therefore removed. 



But neither in the one, nor in the other form is the soapstone 

 lamp the ideal utensil, and even although many of them are still in 

 use here, new ones are probably rare. As soon as it can be afforded, 

 the stone lamp is replaced by a flat square metal basin from the 



