28 CKUISE OF STEAMER CORWIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 



PHYSICA L A PPEA RA NCES. 



Their physical appearance and structure liaving been already described by others, it is unnec- 

 essary to mention them here, except incidentally and by way of noting a few peculiarities tliat seem 

 to have been heretofore overlooked or slightly touched upon l)y other writers. Altliough as a rule 

 they are of short build, averaging about five feet seven inches, yet occasional exceptions were met 

 with among the natives of Kotzebue Sound, many of whom were tall and of commanding appear- 

 ance. At Cape Kruzenstern a man was seen who measured six feet six inches in height. This 

 divergence I'rom the conventional Eskimo type, as usually described in the books, may have been 

 caused by intermarriage with an iidand tribe of larger men from the interior of Alaska, Who come 

 to the coast every summer for i)urposes of trade. 



The complexion, rarely a true white, but rather that of a Chinaman, with a healthy blash suffus- 

 ing each cheek, is often of a browuish-yellow and sometimes quite black, as I have seen in several 

 instances at Tapkau, Siberia. Nor was the broad and flat face and the small nose without excep- 

 tion. In the vicinity of East Cape, the easternmost extremity of Asia, a few Eskimo were seen 

 having distinctive Hebrew noses and a physiognomy of such a Jewish type as to excite the attention 

 and comment of the sailors composing our crew ; others were noticed having a Milesian cast of 

 features and looked like Irishmen, while others resembled several old mulatto men I know in 

 Washington. However, the Mongoloid type in these people was so pronounced that our Japanese 

 boys on meeting Eskimo for the first time took them for Chinamen; on the other hand the Japs 

 were objects of great and constant curiosity to the Eskimo, who doubtless took them for compa- 

 triots, a fact not to be wondered at, since there is such a similarity in the shape of the eyes, the 

 complexion, and hair. In regard to the latter it maybe I'emarked that scarcely anything on board 

 the Corwin excited greater wonder and merriment among the Eskimo than the jiresence of several 

 persons whom Professor Huxley would classify in his Xanthocroic group because of their fiery red 

 hair. 



The structure and arrangement of the hair having lately been proposed as a race characteristic 

 upon which to base an ethnical classification, I took pains to collect various specimens of Innuit 

 hair, which in conjunction with Dr. Kidder, U. S. N., I examined microscopically and compared 

 with the hair of fair and blue-eyed persons, the hair of negroes, and as a matter of cui'iosity with 

 the reindeer hair and the hair-like appendage found on the fringj' extremity of the baleen plates 

 in the mouth of a "bowhead" whale. Some photomicrographs of these objects are shown in the 

 accompanying illustrations. 



To the man willing and anxious to make more extended research into the matter of race charac- 

 teristics, I venture to say that a northern experience will afibrd him ample opportunity for sui)ple- 

 menting Mr. Murray's paper on the Ethnological Classification of Vermin ; and he may further 

 observe that the Eskimo, whatever may be his religious belief or predilection, apparently observes 

 the prohibitions of the Talmud in regard both to filth and getting rid of noxious entomological 

 specimens that infest his body and habitation. 



Whatever modification the bodily structure of the Eskimo may have undergone under the influ- 

 ence of physical and moral causes, when viewed in the light of transcendental anatomy, we find that 

 the mode, plan, or model upon which his animal frame or organs are founded is substantially that 

 of other varieties of men. 



Some writers go so far, in speaking of the Eskimo's correspondence, mental and physical, to his 

 surroundings as to mention the seal as his correlative, which, in my opinion, is about as sensible 

 as speaking of the reciprocal relations of a Cincinnati man and a hog. Unlike the seal, which 

 is x)re-eminently an amphibian and a swimmer, the Eskimo has no physical capability of the latter 

 kind, being unable to swim and ha\'ing the greatest aversion to water except for purposes of navi- 

 gation. He wins our admiration from the expert management at sea of his little shuttle-shaped 

 canoe, which is a kind of marine bicycle, but I doubt very much the soinei'saults he is reported to 

 be able to turn in them. In fact, after offering i-ewards of that all-powerful incentive, tobacco, on 

 numerous occasions, I have been unsuccessful in getting any one of them to attempt the feat, and 

 when told that we had heard of their doing it they smiled rather incredulously. The Eskimo is 

 clearly not a success in a cubistic or saltatorial line, as I have had ample opportunities to observe. 

 They seem to be unable to do the simplest gymnastics, and were filled with the greatest delight 



