Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1873-06-07
Long Polar Nights.
The Arctic Regions--Eneet of Darkness
Upon Men and Dogs.

The doubtful fate of the Polaris re-
calls some interesting "reminiscences in
the two Arctic voyages of DIR. Kane, as
commander of the Grinnell expedition,
sent out to find Sir John Franklin. An
equal heroism now will bring back the
voyagers for whose return such anxiety
will be felt four or five months hence,
if not sooner. In the second voyage
DR.. Kane and his party encountered
cold never before endured, the Their
mometer indicating sometimes from 60
to rs degrees below zero, with hunger,
thirst and disease added. More than
two months of each year they existed in
total darkness-then came the first ink
ings of twilight. For 124 days the sun
was below the horizon, and 140 passed
before his rays reached the rocky
shadowings of the brig. With the in
creasing darkness came increasing dis
ease. Animal life is described as Ian
gushing, not for want of sufficient ex-
ercise, for their whole life was one con-
tinuous round of exertion when disease
did not prevent-not for want of pure
and unadulterated air, but for life-giv-
ing influences of the sun. Remarks
scattered through the pages of both of
DR.. Kane's journals indicate that the
cuntinued darkness influenced thephysi-
illogical state of the system, and gave
rise to the various diseases suffered by
himself and companions. In his MARIA
tive of the first Grinnell Expedition he
notices the peculiar paleness which was
produced by the perpetual night. I'm
der date of December Dist, the day pre-
ceding their "solstical day of darkness, "
he writes, after noticing the bloodless
appearance of himself and companions:
GIN truth, we were all of us at this
time undergoing changes unconscious
ly. The hazy obscurity of the nights
we had gone through made them darker
than the corresponding nights of Parry
The compilations of my comrades and
my own, too, were toned down to a
peculiar waxy paleness. Our eyes were
more recessed, and strangely clear
Complaints of shortness of breath be-
came general our appetite was almost
ludicrously changed, and
our inclination for food was at best very
slight. More than this, our complete
solitude, combined with the permanent
darkness, began to effect our morale. "
Again, January 22d-'T long for day.
The anomalous host of evils that hang
about this vegetation in darkness are
showing themselves in all their forms.
My scurvy patients, those mean on
the sick list, with all the care it is pos
sible to give them, are perhaps no
worse but pains in the joints, rheuma-
tism, coughs, loss of appetite, and gen.
eral debility, extend even to the whole
company. x x We are a CHASTITY
set Of pale faces, and none paler than
myself"
In his "Arctic Expedition " he emu
merated other signs of disease, and re-
fers to it's influence on the brain and to
an epileptictendency which was observed
in some instances. Even the dogs,
which he had taken to participate in
his explorations, were particularly af-
fected by it. "The influence" says he,
"of this long intense darkness was
most depressing. Even our dogs, al
though the greater part of them were
natives of the Arctic Circle, were unable
to withstand it-most of them died
from an anomalous form of disease, to
which I am satisfied the absence of
light contributed as much as the ex-
IRENE cold. * L may recur to
the influence which the long winter
night exerted on the health of these
much-valued animals. The subject has
some interesting bearings, but I content
myself for the present with transcribing
a passage from my journal.
TODAY give up the last hope of saving
them (the dogs. Their disease is as
clearly mortal as in the case of any
human being. The more material func.
tons of the poor brutes go on without
interruption they eat voraciously, re.
tain their strength, and sleep well. But
all the indications beyond this go tc
prove that the original epilepsy which
was the first indication of brain disease
among them has been followed by {
true lunacy. They bark prodigiously
at nothing, and walk in straight ant
curved lines with anxious and unweary
ing perseverance. They fawn upon yor
without seeming to appreciate the no
tice you give them in return, pushing
their heads against your person o,
oscillating with a strange pantomime O
fear. Sometimes they remain for hours
in moody silence, and then start of
bowling as if pursued, and run up ant
down for hours. General,
they perish with symptoms resembling
locked jaw, in less than thirty-six hour
after the attack"
With all this untold amount of bodil,
and mental suffering, and desolatiol
and disease, endured by theseice bounC
voyagers, in this dark and cheerless re
gion, it is not singular that they SHOULD
hail, with exceeding great joy, the ap
proach Of light. Says DR.. Kane, eth
day is beginning to glow with the ap
preaching sun. The sun, at noon, ha
an almost orange tinge. In ten day
his direct rays will reach our hill-tops
and in aweek after he will be dispensin,
! his blessed medicine among our suffer
ers. The coming sun will open appli
ances of moral help to the sick, an
give energy to the hygienic resort
which am arranging at the moment
4 For the last ten days we hay
been watching the growing warmth G
the landscape, asst emerged from burie
, shadows through all the stages of dis
! tinctness of an India-ink washing, ste
by step, into the sharp, bold defnitio
Y of desolate harbor scene. We hav
marked every dash of color, which tn
Great Painter, in His. benevolence
vouchsafed us and now empurple
hues-clear, unmistakable-the spread
= ing lake, the Pickering yellow peerin