262 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. II., No. 80. 



as perfectly air-tight as the boclj' of the snow- 

 block itself. An active Innnit will go com- 

 pletely- around the igloo ou a single joint in 

 about a minute, and it seldom takes over ten to 

 do all the chinking in a large hut. This part 

 is generally- assigned to the boj-s and women, 

 especially- the former, who are much lighter, 

 as it is necessary- to go ou top to complete 

 their work. A well-built igloo, however, will 

 readil_y bear the weight of two large men 

 on their hands and knees ; and j-et I have seen 

 a small boy fall through one made of friable 

 snow. 



Meanwhile the boys and women have been 

 busj' throwing the loose snow from the trench- 



es, and piling it on the honse, often following 

 closely- ujion the work of block-laying, co\'er- 

 ing the whole to a depth of from six inches to 

 half as many feet. The depth to which this 

 is carried depends on the length of time they 

 expect to use the hut, and on the temperature. 

 The common pictures of the huts, showing 

 the block-woi'k so conspicuously, are largely 

 the work of tlie imagination of the artists, all 

 that is seen being rounded heaps of rough 

 granular snow. Such artistic license maj-, 

 however, be allowable to show the essential 

 features ; and, so far as my criticism is con- 

 cerned, I do not wish to be understood as saying 

 that such uncovered iuioos never occur. 



I have spoken of the snow-walls, when 

 chinked, as being perfectl}' air-tight. This is 

 not strictly correct ; the snow being more or 

 less porous, and allowing a slow but ample 

 current of air to pass through. In fact, at 

 night the door is sealed, and the onl}- means of 

 ventilation is through the body of the snow. 



In 1879, during a heavj- north-east gale, I 

 was in an igloo on the west bank of Back's 

 River. The walls were of a granular snow, but 

 were covered to a depth of three or four feet. 

 Yet, with all this thickness, a candle-flame 

 held near the wall on the windward side was 

 deflected constantly- at an angle of from thirty 

 to thirty-five degrees from the vertical. 



The banking is done with a snow-shovel 

 made of half-inch boards, tapering off to a 

 short handle for one hand : a bent piece of 

 musk-ox horn fastened in at the centre fur- 

 nishes a hold for the other. The cutting edge 

 is protected by a sharpened shoe of reindeer- 

 horn, neatl3' bound on with reindeer sinew, 

 which is also used to sew the boards together. 

 The Netschilluks use shovels of cedar, walnut, 

 and mahogan}- from Franklin's ships. 



(To be continued.) 



MINNESOTA WEATHER. 



Much has been said about the sanitarj- prop- 

 erties of the climate of Minnesota as a heal- 

 ing-place for the consumptive ; and in this 

 connection a great deal of erroneous informa- 

 tion has been published, often to the serious 

 injur}- of the invalid, who is misled by it. As 

 might be expected, the newspaper is the prin- 

 cipal agent in the dissemination of such litera- 

 ture. Here is an extract from the editorial 

 page of the St. Paul and Minneapolis Pioneer 

 press, the leading journal between Chicago 

 and San Fi-ancisco : — 



" Of the aid that maj- be given by a pure, 

 rarefied,* and dry atmosphere, thousands of 

 people now living in Minnesota, who have been 

 rescued from impending death, can bear sub- 

 stantial and grateful testimonj'." 



Written in the haste of a newspaper office, 

 bj- one who is practically pledged to the lau- 

 dation of his state, as the western editor is, 

 such a paragraph would scarcely deserve 

 notice, were it not a summation in brief of 

 some of the most popular errors afloat on this 

 subject, and which one meets with everywhere 

 in that land, from the drawing-room gossip to 

 the medical journal. As such, it maj- profit- 

 ably serve as text for analysis. 



In the matter of pure air, Minnesota is not 

 different from other northern states in which 

 the face of nature has been moiled by the 



