40 THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 
sores on the face from neglected frost bites are common. Many are 
blind in one eye from what appears to be cataract or leacoma, but only 
one case of complete blindness was noticed. Dr. Sutherland states that 
he does not recollect a single instance of total blindness among the 
Eskimo that he saw in Baffin Land, and expresses the opinion that “An 
individual in such a state would be quite unfit for the life of toil and 
hardship to which the hardy Esquimaux is exposed. The neglect con- 
sequent upon this helpless condition most probably cuts off its afflicted 
objects.” ! 
This seems quite reasonable on a priori grounds, but nevertheless the 
blind man at Cape Smyth had lived to middle age in very comfortable 
circumstances, and though supported to a great extent by his relatives 
he was nevertheless able to do a certain share of work, and had the 
reputation of being a good paddler for a whaling umiak. 
Injuries are rare. One man had lost both feet at the ankle and moved 
about with great ease and rapidity on his knees. All are subject to 
bleeding at the nose and usually plug the bleeding nostril with a bunch 
of deer hair.” 
This habit, as it has been termed, of vicarious hemorrhage seems to 
be characteristic of the Eskimo race wherever they have been met with, 
and has been supposed to be a process of nature for relieving the full- 
ness of the circulatory system caused by their exclusively animal diet.’ 
Natural deformities and abnormalities of structure are uncommon, 
except strabismus, which is common and often, at least, congenital. One 
boy in Utkiavwin had his forehead twisted to one side, probably from 
some accident or difficulty during delivery. His intelligence did not 
seem to be impaired. The people are, as a rule, right handed, but that 
left-handed persons occasionally occur is shown by their having a word 
for a left-handed man. Wealso collected a “crooked knife,” fitted for 
use with the left hand.‘ 
PSYCHICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
As a rule they are quick-witted and intelligent, and show a great 
capacity for appreciating and learning useful things, especially mechan- 
ical arts. In disposition they are light-hearted and cheerful, not easily 
cast down by sorrow or misfortune, and though sometimes quick-tem- 
pered, their anger seldom lasts long.’ They have a very keen sense of 
humor, and are fond of practical jokes, which they take in good part, 
1 Journ. Ethnol. Soc., vol. 4, p. 206. 
2Compare what Davis wrote in 1586 of the Greenlanders: ‘‘These people are much given to bleed, 
and, therefore, stoppe theyr noses with deere hayre or the hayre of an elan.’’ Hakluyt, Voyages, etc., 
1589, p. 782. 
3 Egede, Greenland, p. 120; Crantz, vol. 1, p. 234 (Greenland); Southerland, Journ. Ethnol. Soc., vol. 
Iv, p. 207 (Baftin Land); Chappell, ‘Hudson Bay,’ p. 74 (North Shore of Hudson Strait); Lyon, 
Journal, p. 18 (Hudson Strait); Franklin, Ist Exp., 1, p. 29 (Hudson Strait); Parry, 2d Voy., p. 544 
(Igluilik); Hooper, Tents of the Tuski, p. 185 (Plover Bay, Siberia). 
47 have an indistinct recollection of having once seen a left-handed person from Nuwik. 
5 Holm calls the East Greenlanders ‘ct meget livligt Folkefterd’’ Geogr. Tidskrift, vol. 8, p. 96. 
