I 



Health Conditions on the Danmark Expedition. 461 



readily wakened than usually and kept awake by relatively little dis- 

 turbance. Men who by no means worked too hard vidth their brains 

 in the day-time often lay for hours ^\^thout being able to sleep. In 

 the morning one felt tired and Ьеал'у and disinclined to work. Brain- 

 work especially was difficult. We could sit for a long time, slack and 

 idle, staring listlessly in the air before coming to any decision to do 

 this or that; but it took as a rule many resolutions and a very great 

 effort before anything was actually begun. The temper was uncertain 

 and irritable, though there was an. undoubted tendency to depression 

 of mind; in one case this dcA^eloped towards the end of the winter into 

 a very slight touch of melancholia. 



Towards the spring two epidemics of poisoning occurred. The 

 first was due to whortle-berry soup which had stood for some hours 

 in a copper kettle, the tin-layer of which had become very defective. 

 The poisoning took the form of a light, quickly passing gastro- 

 enteritis. 



The second case, which in all probability was due to eating bear 

 liver, was of a somewhat more serious character. As the question of 

 the poisonous properties of bear Ил^ег has often been raised in the liter- 

 ature on the arctic, without any definite opinion being reached, and 

 is not wthout interest for arctic travellers, I may discuss the matter 

 in more detail. 



On the 10/III/07 a bear was shot near the ship in the forenoon. 

 It was thin but apparently sound, being more than usually lively and 

 aggressiA'e. On the follo^^dng day we had a ragout for dinner prepared 

 from the bear's heart, kidneys and liver. We had often previously 

 eaten the heart and kidney of bears, but had never tried the liver, as 

 we also were of the opinion that it was poisonous; we were now to try 

 it however. 



After the gall-bladder had been carefully removed, the liver was 

 cut into squares and browned in a pan after the pieces had been washed 

 in scA'eral lots of water; it was afterwards boiled long with the other 

 ingredients of the meal. The result was quite a well-tasting dish and 

 most of us ate considerable quantities. 



The clinical features of the poisoning can only be given in the rough. 

 The objective examination was in most cases rather defective, partly 

 because the conditions were difficult, little room, had light etc., partly 

 owing to the relatiA'ely large number of patients and lastly because 

 the physician himself was amongst the sufferers and therefore less cap- 

 able of work. 



The 19 men who partook of the dish were all sick. The symp- 

 toms however difl not appear immerliately after the meal, which was 

 at 5 — 6 p. m. The first two patients got ill about 9 in the evening, and 

 the majority of the eases followed in the course of the evening and night; 

 6 patients only found out thai I here was any tiling wrung when Liiey 



