377 



less old people and cripples are maintained by the tribe year 

 in year out. In another matter, however, the conditions have 

 not permitted them to display humanity; this is in the case 

 of small children whose mother has died. They are killed by 

 the father, as he finds it impossible to obtain nourishment for 

 them , unless quite exceptionally there may happen to be a 

 woman able to foster them in the settlement. 



The Polar Eskimos have very little notion of time. No one 

 knows his own age. Even the age of the children can only 

 be given by the parents after they have sat down and calcu- 

 lated how many winters have passed since the child was born. 

 Except for the light period, the year is divided according to 

 the moons, each of which has its own peculiar name. During 

 the light period it seems to be chiefly the migration of the 

 birds which gives definite points for the determination of time. 

 The days passed, e. g. on a journey, can only approximately be 

 given according to the number of times they have slept. Shorter 

 periods may be indicated, for example, by showing how great 

 a distance the sun will travel across the sky or, if the sun is 

 not to be seen, would travel in the time thought of. But we 

 must remember here, that these statements are chiefly made 

 in conversation with Europeans and in answer to their quest- 

 ions; for the Polar Eskimos themselves, the reckoning of time 

 has not ihe slightest importance. 



Another matter is, that the change of the seasons seems to 

 have a fairly considerable influence on their temperament and 

 moods. A peculiar form of hysteria, more frequent among 

 women than men, is said to be strikingly common late in the 

 autumn, when the winter darkness is just coming on. Such 

 attacks, which last for some few minutes to about half an hour, 

 may however also appear at other times of the year, caused 

 by a sudden fright or other unusual mental shock. In July 

 1909 I was witness of such an attack in the woman Inadtliak 

 (fig. 30). It lasted 25 minutes. She sat on the ground with 



