SEPTESmER 7, 1SS3.] 



SCIENCE. 



305 



almost constantly in ings, makes them a most 

 foilorn, uncoml'orlablc-lookiug, and dejected 

 lot of human beings. The powers of these two 

 tribes to withstand the cold seem almost phe- 

 uomenal. 



The flatness of the domes, however, is not 

 whoUj- a tribal pecnliarity, but is also a func- 

 tion of the season of the jear. In the -winter- 

 time, when the snow is hard and compact, 

 the roof can be made much flatter than in 

 the spring, when the warm, sunny days bring 

 on a tliaw, and threaten to tumble it in. At 

 such times it is made very peaked, to gain 

 strength for its weakest points, the inclining 

 blocks. 



The Iwilliks and Iglooliks (among the estu- 

 aries of Is'orth Hudson's Bay) have ample 

 supi)lies of whale, seal, and walrus oil, and, 

 despite their higher roofs, have very comfort- 

 able houses in the way of warmth, while they 

 exceed all others in roominess, and ease and 

 comfort in dressing and undressing. 



The heated air, of course, rises to the top ; 

 and. should it grow too warm inside, this heat 

 soon cuts its way through the joints of the top 

 blocks, and enough fresh air enters to quickly 

 reduce the temperature below freezing again, 

 cspeciallj- if it be ver}- cold on the outside. 

 Sometimes this ascending heat makes so much 

 impression on the edges of the top blocks tiiat 

 they commence to thaw and ilrii) in an annoy- 

 ing manner. This is always remedied by tak- 

 ing a handful or a small block of snow from 

 the floor, where the temperature is very low, 

 and applying it to the dripping spot, where it 

 freezes immediatch", and, like a sponge, ab- 

 sorbs the drippings. These little pests have to 

 be watched closely, however : for when they are 

 saturated with water, and thawed from their 

 frozen fastenings, they will come down like a 

 slushy ball of lead ; and it seems as if they 

 woukl defy all the laws of gravity to get down 

 a person's. back, or hit a sleeper in the face. 

 I once bad a large one fall in a pint cup full of 

 hot reindeer-soup just as 1 had it near my nose, 

 blowing it \f> hurry up the meal and get away 

 from a delayed camp. 



Small store-igloos are built outside to hold 

 the bulky material, and often connect with the 

 main igloo or its entrance, if their contents are 

 needed from time to time. 



Where several families, generally related, 

 build a family igloo, it is done by making a 

 large central one, without bed-platforms or 

 other impediments to roominess ; and around 

 this are built the smaller family igloos, — two, 

 three, or even a half-dozen, — connecting with 

 the central one by high groined arches that 



will generally allow of passing from one to the 

 other without stoo|jing ; and conversation can 

 be readily carried on between them, these 

 smaller igloos being more like radiating al- 

 coves than separate structures. Then the 

 entrance to the main part is made very long 

 (fifteen or twent}' feet), and its outer end is 

 changed from time to time to face away from 

 the wind, if it be at all strong. The usual en- 

 trance is so low that one always has to enter 

 on his hands and knees ; but in these family 

 igloos the grcat<'r i)art one can accomplish by 

 stooping considerably. There is always a 

 crowd of hungry dogs ready to take advantage 

 of a person's entering to crowd in close behind, 

 so as to steal a straj' piece of blubber from the 

 lamp-platform or floor. At all other times 

 two or three of their heads can be seen closing 

 the entrance, waiting a good opportunit}' for a 

 dash. The matron of the house, silting <) la 

 Turc on the edge of the bed, keeps a good 

 stout club convenient, and whacks them over the 

 nose whenever they make an unusually impu- 

 dent intrusion. At night-times, and during 

 cold, windy weather, the more lielligerent of 

 these camels of the cold monopolize the en- 

 trance for sleeping-apartments ; but they gen- 

 erally manage to get into some sort of light, 

 breaking in the door, and the master then arises 

 and vacates these canine compartments with 

 the butt-end of a whip or a sledge-slat, antl the}- 

 remain quiet for the rest of the night. 



The temperature inside ranges from freezing 

 (above which, of course, it cannot ascend) to 

 about ten to twenty degrees below. Late in 

 the winter, when all have inured themselves to 

 the cold, the same tribe will keep their houses 

 much colder with the same ajjparent comfort. 

 At these temperatures one feels very warm 

 after coming in from the outside. The outer 

 clothes are taken otf. and even baths are in- 

 dulged in ; the little children, stark vuked, 

 playing on the reindeer-skins of the bed with 

 the little puppies and to\' harness. Those 

 tribes that do not use oil-lamps are, of course, 

 much colder in tiieir houses, having only the 

 warmth of the body and a few liglits, with 

 occasionally some cooking from the lamps ; 

 yet I do not think it ever gets l>elow zero. 

 Even in these igloos I have known a Kinne- 

 jietoo to take a reindeer-skin that had l)een 

 soaked to rid it of hair, and that ftas api)ar- 

 ently frozen as solid as boiler plate iron, and, 

 putting it under his coat against the bare skin, 

 hold it there not only until it was thawed out, 

 but also until it was dry, and fit to be used for 

 a drumhead for their superstitious rites. Jug- 

 gernaut could show no greater devotees among 



