MURDOCH] PHYSICAL CUAKACTKKISTICS. 39 



of adoption. IJr. Simpson licanl of a ••rare case" where oiii> woiiiaii liad 

 borne seven children.' We heanl of no twins ai eiilier village, i|]oiil;Ii 

 we obtained the Eskimo word for fwins. It was impossihle to leaiii 

 with certainty the aj^c at wiiieh tlie women lirst hear children, from Hie 

 impossibility of learn in f; the a.^e of any imli\idnals in the alisenee of 

 any fixed Jiu'thod of reekonini; time. l»i'. Simpson states that tlie\ do 

 not commonly bear children before the a.^c of LM(,' and \\f eeiiainly saw 

 no mothers who app<'are(l yonnncr than tliis. We knew df Imt ii\-e cases 

 of pregnancy in the two viila.ues dnrin.;;' the L.' years of our stay. (»f 

 these, one suffered miscarria.ue, and of the other fonr. only two of the 

 infants lived more than a slnnttime. it is exe.'edin.uiy dinicuit, foi' the 

 reasons stated above, to form any estimate ol' tlie a.^c to which th<'se 

 people live, thougii it is mitnral to sniipose that tiie arduons and olten 

 precarious existem'c wliich tliey lead mnst prevent any great longevity. 

 Men and women who apjieared to be ()() or over were rare. Vuksi'fia, 

 the .so-called -chief" of XnwuU. who was old enou-li to 1... a man of 

 considerabl.' inflnenee at the time the /'/orry wintered at I'oiiit liarrow 

 (1852-'54), was in ISSj a feeld.'. liowed. tofterin.';- old man. very deaf 

 and almost bliml, but with his mental faculties ap|)arently unimpaired. 

 Gray hair appears unconuaou. Kven the (thh'st arc, as a rule, but 

 slightly gray. 



rATHOLOGY. 



Diseases of the respiratory ami digestive organs are the most freciucnt 

 and serious ailments from which they suffer. The former are most 

 prevalent toward the end of sumniei' and early in winter, and are due 

 to the natives sleeping on the dam), ground and to their extreme care- 

 lessness in exposing themselves to dralts of wind when overheated. 

 Nearly everyone sntfers from coughs and c.ilds in the latter part of 

 August, and many dcatiis occur at this season and the beginning of 

 wint^^r from a disease which ajipcars to Ix- pneumonia. A few cases, 

 one fatal, of hemorrhage of the lungs were observed, which wer.> jiroba 

 bly aggravat.'d by th.- univ<'rsal liiibit of inhaling tobacco smoke. The 

 pcoiile suffer from diarrhea, indigestion, and especially from constiiia- 

 tion. 



Gonorrhea ai)i>ears cimunou in both sexes, but syphilis seems to be 

 unknown in spite of the pronnscuous intercour.se of the women with tlie 

 whalemen. One case of utcrim' henu)rrhage was observed. ( 'ntancoiis 

 diseases are rare. A severe ulcer on the leg, of long standing, was cured 

 by our surgeon, to who.se observations 1 am chielly indebted tor what 1 

 have to say about the diseases of these people : and one man had losf 

 the cartilage of his nose and was markeil all over the body with hideous 

 scars from what appeared to be sonu' tbrm of scrofulous disease. A 

 single ca.se of tum.u- on the <hdtoid mus.de was observd. Kheumatism 

 is rather trnpu-nt. All are suljject to snow blimlness in the spring, and 



'Op.cit., p. 254. ' ^Op.cit. p.254. 



