321 



Eskimos have in common with practically all other Eskimos, 

 is to protect the dwelling-room against the wind and draughts, 

 or to obtain, without at the same time interfering with the 

 renewal of the air, a constant supply of the latter which can be 

 evenly and regularly warmed. This is attained in the first place 

 by the long, narrow passage, which stops the spread of the 

 air-pressure and causes it to become an even and quiet stream 

 of air, when it passes into the house, secondly, by the low-lying 

 position of the entrance to the passage and lastly, by placing the 

 lamps on a raised stand and not on the floor itself. As the result 

 of the two last-mentioned conditions, the cold air is able to 

 spread quietly along the floor. It is only when it comes lo 

 the level of the platform that it is evenly warmed up by the 

 lamps and gradually rises, so that there is always a warmer 

 layer of air lying above. The products of combustion can 

 escape outwards, partly through the "nose" of the house, 

 partly through the peep-hole in the pane of gut-skin. 



The arrangement of the long, low passage, which opens 

 into the house so low down, is thus in reality a kind of equi- 

 valent for the door and porch or lobby, by the help of which 

 the Europeans in cold lands keep the cold air from penetrating 

 directly into their dwelling-rooms. In the eskimo house it is 

 in reality the raised platform, which corresponds to the true 

 dwelling-room. And so cleverly therefore is this house built, 

 that the fresh air has the most unhindered entrance and yet 

 one is in the midst of an even warmth. 



The Danish painter. Grev Harald Moltke \ who passed a 

 great part of the winter of 1903 — 04 in a winter-house of the 

 Polar Eskimos, has expressed his opinion on it as follows: 

 "Two things are surprising in this small, primitive hole — the 

 temperature and the good air. The cold air streams through 

 the passage, the entrance-hole and out over the floor, where 



* Mylius Erichsen og Moltke: Grenland, p. 589. 



