CRUISE OF STEAlNfER CORWIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAX. 19 



"Their principal tlierapeutic measures consisted in patience and strict diet, the patient being 

 allowed oulj' a gargle and two spoonfuls of water in the twenty-four hours. Dangerous wounds 

 were treated by prolonged fasting, as they considered food and drink extraordinarily dangerous 

 for the patient, and creating a licpiid in the wound which caused inflaniniatlon and even death. 

 The writer states that this method of treatment is still pursued, and thinks that even now it saves 

 many from death. Accidental wounds from foxtraps were quite common, the barbed iron teeth 

 usually taking effect in or near the knee-joint. At Onnalaska out of forty or fifty cases but two 

 are known to have died. In gunshot wounds, aside from diet, they used for cleansing and keeping 

 unds alive the fat of fishes and various land animals, especially fat from the head of the fox. 

 Over deep wounds thej' sifted burnt teeth reduced to powder and applied a fresli mouse-skin every 

 day. Swellings and rheumatisms they treated with various fomentations and ointments, or by 

 poultices made of roots. Other external diseases they hardly treated at all, except by employing 

 the universal medicines, diet and patience. 



" In fevers they employed decoctions of bitter herbs and guarded the patient carefully from 

 tlie external air. Herbs were also used in consumi)tion of the first kind, but if the expectoration 

 proved troublesome, the patient was submitted further to the operation of ' pricking.' In both 

 kinds of consumption the Aleut doctors supposed the bad symptoms to proceed from bad blood, 

 or a ferment, or spirit. The operation just mentioned was performed by thrusting stone lancets 

 on both sides immediately under the ribs, and was done by the most skillful surgeons only, 

 because it required accurate knowledge of the internal i>arts and of just how much of the spirit to 

 let out, as there was danger of letting it all out and thus sending the patient to the other world. 

 The operation, also used as a remedy for 'internal disease,' was considered the most approved 

 treatment for colic, and patients expressed themselves as having received decided benefit therefrom. 

 ' Puncture ' in critical conditions was resorted to as the last and sole remedy. It was also used 

 in many other diseases, for example in diseases of the eyes, where the skin was pricked between 

 the eyes or on the nape of the neck. In fact, this operation was done on all parts of the body, 

 and an instance was known of an Aleut having submitted to it forty times, various parts of his 

 body having been punctured. The operators were men famous for their skill, and imparted their 

 knowledge to the best-beloved of their children or nephews; for this reason the art is of late become 

 almost lost. Common bleeding from the arm and leg was employed to reduce large swellings and 

 correct morbid conditions of the blood; also to combat sluggishness or weakness, headache, and 

 loss of appetite. 



" For diarrhu-a astringent roots and diet were employed or the root of the ' makarsha.' Another 

 treatment in 'internal diseases,' generally resorted to by old women, consisted in a sort of manipu- 

 lation of the belly while the patient was lying on his back. It was used principally against griping 

 pains, and elicited high praise from the men who have experienced the treatment." 



EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL. 



The principal vices among these people, who are generally mild and iuofl'ensive, seem to be a 

 fondness for games of chance and an uncontrollable craving for alcoholic drinks — an appetite 

 which, by the way, two seasons of personal observation and experience in the Arctic convince me 

 is something of a physiological necessity. The taste, however, seems to be an acquired one by 

 the aborigines, for I saw a man at Nounivak Island to whom the taste was foreign, and on tasting 

 both brandy and whiskey he made a wry face and spat them out with evident disgust. 



Late authorities testify strongly in favor of the benefit to be derived from moderate indulgence 

 in drink during an Arctic sojourn. In looking over a. precis of the evidence taken by the Parlia- 

 mentary Committee appointed to inquire into the adequacy of the provision in the way of food, 

 medicines, and medical comforts furnished to the Nares Arctic Search Expedition, we learn that 

 Sir Edward Parry attributed the greatest antiscorbutic effect to beer ; and Dr. Colan, R. N., fieet 

 surgeon (Alert), says it is the opinion of all the men he has read about who spoke about beer in the 

 Arctic regions. Dr. Barnes believes beer decidedly antiscorbutic and recommends it should be 

 "•iven. Sir George Nares says abstainers are no better off than others as regards scurvy. Captain 

 Markham says he would as soon take a man of temperate habits on an expedition as an abstainer ; 

 the two total abstainers of his sledge suffered severely, and he himself felt better after he took to 

 drinking his rum. Sir L. McClintock says there is no advantage in teetotalers; I\Ir. Alexander 



