Health Conditions on the Danmark Expedition. 465 



warning again ate the liver they were again all sick. In both cases the 

 bears were old and fat. Kane's first case of poisoning occurred in the 

 autumn, October. On the other hand, the dogs on Kane's expedition 

 ate the bear liver without being sick. 



Halli wTites with regard to a bear shot: "'every part except the 

 liver was good"; but whether he ate the liver or not is unkno^vn. 



Payera after describing a bear hunt says: "The dangerous liver 

 was thrown into the water". 



Later ^ he narrates regarding the Barentz Expedition: "'Only once 

 did we eat of the liver of such an animal (bear), and 3 men became 

 sick; their skin could be peeled off from the head to 

 the fee t". At the same place Payer cites another author who 

 writes: ""When the polar bear has eaten half-rotten walrus or seal its flesh 

 is said to be poisonous". Later* Payer says again that both Davis 

 and Barentz had experience of the poisonous nature of the bear's liver, 

 as also that the experiment of eating it was repeated on his олуп exped- 

 ition \Л11Ь the same unfortunate results; but I have not been able to 

 find that he has given any description of the sickness. 



SvERDRUP^ has repearedly noticed that the dogs would not eat 

 bear liver unless they were very hungry. He adds that he had often 

 eaten it himself without becoming sick, and he does not believe there- 

 fore that it is so very poisonous. He does not give any information 

 however which could help to throw light on the question. 



Nothing is said on this subject in the majority of the arctic ex- 

 plorations which have been at my disposal. 



It appears from the available information that the bear liver has 

 not always proved to be poisonous to human beings; on the other hand, 

 there is no indication which would help us on to the track of the cause 

 why it undoubtedly frequently occurs, that human beings are more or 

 less seriously sick after eating this liver. The age and condition of the 

 bear seem to be of just as little importance in this cormection as the 

 time of year: Kane's two bears were old, fat animals and his first case 

 of poisoning fell in October; our bear was young and thin and was shot 

 in March. What this bear had eaten I do not know, as its stomach 

 was empty when it was shot, but it is hardly probable that it could 

 have found anything at all rotten in the month of March. Nor do the 

 symptoms of poisoning mentioned give any definite impression of whe- 

 ther it was always the same kind of symptoms as in our case. Yet 

 peeling of the skin is mentioned by Barentz and the manner in which 



' North Polar Expedition. U. S. Ship "Polaris". Washington 1876, p. .o52. 

 - Den O.slerrig-Ungarske Polarexpedition 1872 — 74 by Jll. Payer. Danish 

 Translation by Guldrerg, Copenhagen 1877, p. 124. 

 •■■ 1. с p. 28C. 

 ' 1. с p. 508. 



•' iN'yt Land. Kristiania, p. 401. 

 s.u. :iO 



