300 THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 
process in all its stages, and can therefore give only a general account 
of it. Deerskins are always dressed as furs, with the hair on. The 
skin is rough-dried in the open air, with considerable subcutaneous tissue 
adhering to it, and laid aside until needed. When wanted for use, a 
woman takes the skin and works it over carefully with a stone scraper 
on the flesh side, removing every scrap of subcutaneous tissue and 
“breaking the grain” of the skin, which leaves a surface resembling 
white chamois leather and very soft. This is then rubbed down with a 
flat piece of sandstone or gypsum, and finally with chalk, so that when 
finished it seems like pipeclayed leather. All furs are prepared in the 
same way. Small seal skins to be worn with the hair on are scraped 
very clean and, I think, soaked in urine, before they are spread out to 
dry. The black waterproof sealskin has the hair shaved off close to 
the skin, great care being taken to leave the epidermis intact, and also 
has a certain amount of tanning in urine. It is probable that a little 
of the blubber is left on these skins, to make them oily and waterproof. 
When, however they wish to prepare the white-tanned seal skin, the 
skins are brought into the warm house, thawed out or dampened and 
then rolled up and allowed to ferment for several days, so that when they are 
unrolled hair and epidermis are easily scraped off together. The skin 
is then soaked in urine, stretched on a large hoop, and put out to dry in 
the sun and air. Many of these skins are prepared during the first 
sunny weather in the early spring. The skins of the large seal, walrus 
or bear when used for boat-covers or boot soles appear to be sweated 
in the same way, as the epidermis is always removed. We did not learn 
whether urine was employed on these skins, but I think from their 
ordinary appearance that they are simply stretched and dried in their 
own fat, as appears to be the case with the skin of the beluga, from 
which the epidermis is easily scraped without sweating. ! 
Combs for deerskins.—The loosened hairs on a deerskin garment are 
removed by means of a comb made of a section of the beam of an ant- 
ler, hollowed out and cut into teeth on the end. This instrument prob- 
ably serves also to remove vermin, as its name “kimotin” looks very 
muchasif derived from ktmiuk,louse. Imustsay, however, thatthe na- 
tives whom I asked if kimotin had anything to do with kumtk said 
it had not. When vermin get troublesome in a garment, it is taken 
out on the tundra, away from the houses, and beaten with rods like a 
carpet. Very old garments when much infested with lice are taken 
out back ofthe village, cut into small pieces, and burned. It is no un- 
common sight in the spring to see an old woman sitting out on the tun- 
dra, busy with her knife cutting up old clothes. 
We brought home nine of these combs, of which No. 89354 [1879], 
Fig. 301a, has been selected as the type. It is 4} inches long and has 
1 Crantz describes the process of preparing boat coyers as follows: ‘‘ The boat skins are selected out 
of the stoutest seals’ hides, from which the fat is not quite taken off; they roll them up, and sit on them, 
or let them lie in the sun covered with grass several weeks, ‘till the hair will come off.” History of 
Greenland, vol. 1, p. 167. 
