August 15, 1890.] 



SCIENCE. 



93 



pensable as air. M. Ferdinand Duval, late Prefect |of the Seine, 

 in writing on the subject made the remark that water should not 

 only be in sufficient quantity but in abundance, and a city in 

 which the inhabitants have only a very limited supply of water at 

 their disposal he compared to a ship in distress. It appears that 

 the senate has just voted the biU for supplying Paris with drink- 

 ing-water from the "Vigne Springs in the Avre Valley. It will be 

 four years, however before Paris feels the benefit of this decision, 

 as the works cannot be completed before that period. 



International Congress on Alcohol. 



The International Congress on Alcohol will hold its sittings 

 in Christiania, Norway, on Sept. 3, 4, and 5 ; and the programme, 

 as given in The Lancet, gives promise of highly interesting and, 

 we trust, fruitful discussions. The report of the president of the 

 permanent committee (Dr. Forel, of Zilrich) will review the work 

 achieved in lessening the evils of drunkenness between 1887 and 

 1890, after which papers will be read as follows: " The Means 

 which have Proved most Effective in Norway for the Diminution 

 of Alcoholism;" "The Results of the Gothenburg System;" "The 

 Alcoholic Question in Relation to the Rearing of the Young;" 

 "The Degeneration of Indigenous Tribes through the Spirit 

 Trade;" and " Freel3' Diluted Alcoholic Beverages, or, in other 

 words. Moderation as a Means of Combatting Intemperance." 

 Other papers on branches of the drink question will be read by 

 Dr. B. W. Richardson, Professor Bohmert, Dr. H. Von Hebra, 

 Dr. H. Kurella. and other distinguished promoters of the temper- 

 ance cause. Many non-medical or lay friends of the same social 

 reform will take part in the proceedings, the attractiveness of 

 which will be materially enhanced by an exhibition of writings, 

 illustrations, and various other objects, bearing directly or re- 

 motely on alcoholism in all its ramiBcatfons. A similar exhibition 

 was held at the last meeting of the Congress (at Ziirichj, and 

 proved an excellent adjunct to the discussions. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



*** Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. Tlie writer^s name 

 is in all cases required as proof of good faith. 



The editor willbe glad to publish any queries consonant witli the character 

 of the journal. 



On request, twenty copies of the number containing his communication tuill 

 be furnished free to any correspondent. 



The Eskimo of Cape Prince of Wales, Hudson's Strait. 



(The substance of this letter was read at the last meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science.) 



One of the chief troubles to contend with in making notes upon 

 the customs of the Eskimo is their extreme sensitiveness to ridi- 

 cule, and it is therefore most necessary that you should put on 

 your gravest expression when questioning them. Sometimes this 

 sensitiveness is very interesting to watch. Upon one occasion, 

 when employing my favorite Eskimo, Ugaluk, as an assistant in 

 my boat, and telling him to throw out the anchor, he immediately 

 picked it up and carrying it to the bow was in the act of casting 

 it overboard without a rope attached to it. We were just in time 

 to stop him, and naturally laughed, rather immoderately, at 

 which he sat down in the boat and covering his face with his 

 hands remained in that position for a long time, and was too shy 

 to speak to us. 



If offended at any time with their own people, or either of my 

 men, they would immediately leave, and, without saying a word, 

 would go home, and for some time they were not to he seen. We 

 sometimes regretted that they could not be offended oftener, for 

 most of them required continual watching when anything mova- 

 ble was about. 



One afternoon several men entered our house, and, standing 

 near the fire, refused most positively to go out. Knowing that 

 promptness of action has a good effect upon them, one of them 

 was immediately handled rather roughly, and stumbling, fell as 

 lie was bundled out of the door, the others following suit. For a 

 minute we thought there was going to be trouble; the next mo- 

 ment, however, they picked themselves up, and, all turning with 

 smiling faces, said "Chimo, chimo," which means "We are 



friends." I may add that orders to leave our house after this 

 were never disobeyed. 



While, as a rule, the Eskimo looks upon the white man as born 

 to do him favors, those met with would sometimes offer payment 

 for our services; and for the burial of an aged relative, who died 

 when his friends were away hunting, one of my men received the 

 valuable gift of about two gallons of blubber, which of course he 

 accepted with many thanks. Nevertheless, if an Eskimo was 

 given an unusually valuable present, he would immediately turn 

 round and ask for the most impossible things, as though he 

 thought you were now in a goad humor, and now was the time 

 to get all he could from you. 



As far as could be seen, it seemed to be the general belief that 

 all property, especially in the way of food, belonged to everybody 

 in common, and therefore, if you held more than another, it was 

 only because you or your family were physically strong enough to 

 protect it Few men, of course, would steal from one another 

 when food was plentiful, thereby making enemies for themselves, 

 but. when food is scarce, might is right, and all make note of the 

 position of their neighbors' caches before the winter's snow covers 

 them. 



At one time, after a raid had been made upon my storehouse by 

 seme rather desperate Eskimo, my trusted friend Ugaluk informed 

 me that his wife had gone to get a share of the plunder. At first 

 we were inclined to harangue him for infidelity, but soon saw he 

 had not the slightest idea it was wrong to receive stolen property. 

 Upon another occasion, under similar circumstances, I induced 

 Ugaluk to help me track the robbers, and, with some trouble, we 

 traced them to a deep gorge, where all we could see was a large 

 hole in the snow. This was the doorway of an igloo ten feet be- 

 low the surface, which had been covered by continuous drifting 

 of the snow. Into this hole Ugaluk dived, while I remained out- 

 side. He soon returned and asked me to follow, which I did upon 

 my knees for some distance, until I found myself in a very dirty 

 dimly-lighted room. Sitting near the lamp was a woman, and by 

 her were three children, these being the only occupants of the 

 place. The woman denied most emphatically any knowledge of 

 the theft, and was not moved in the least when informed that her 

 husband would stand a chance of being shot if he took part in 

 another burglary. Feeling that perhaps after all we were mis- 

 taken, we were just leaving, when the woman called us back, 

 and, holding up a small piece of salt beef, said this was all her 

 husband had taken, as unconcernedly as though she had never 

 denied it, and as though he had found it outside our door instead 

 of having done a great deal of damage in securing it. 



The Eskimo, of all races, are the most free, and in no case do 

 they consider a man their superior unless he or his family are 

 physically stronger or are better hunters than others. These su- 

 perior men are treated with little deference, though they are usu- 

 ally sought for in the settlement of disputes, and sometimes act 

 as public executioners. Ugaluk, who had all these qualities, was 

 usually obeyed when an order was given by him, and we were 

 much interested with his story of a comjiaratively recent execu- 

 tion which he undertook for the good of the community. Walk- 

 ing up to the offender, he held him in conversation for a few 

 minutes, when suddenly, drawing a knife from his sleeve, he 

 plunged it into his breast, and then finished him upon the ground, 

 afterwards carrying his body out upon his kyak and dropping it 

 into the sea. As Ugaluk related his story, in a whisper, he trem- 

 bled violently, and it was quite evident be was haunted with cer- 

 tain fears. 



As in civilized communities, there were several restless individ- 

 uals living among those we met, who at different times had dwelt 

 in many parts of the coast, one of whom at least had lived far up 

 Fox Channel. These individuals are employed as traders, and 

 evidently are the means of keeping the language intact. 



As is well known, work is pretty well divided among these 

 people, the men doing all the hunting and making and repairing 

 implements, while the women take part in everything else, even 

 in the making of boats and building houses, though the more la- 

 borious part of this work is performed by the men. When mov- 

 ing to a distant part of the coast, a small pack is put upon each 

 dog, and the men and women divide equally the heavy goods to 



