Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-10-27

Peculiarifies Of the People There
Their Vices and Ailments.

The American Geographical Society has just
published an interesting paper concerning the
people Of Alaska from the pen of Dr. Irving c.
ROsse.
Tine object of this paper" says DR.. Rose, in
opening. 'is to record, in fragmentary way
some observations. as they have occurred to the
writer during late hyperborean experience
which afforded exceptional advantages fol
noting few of the changes and variations that
are brought about in the human economy by
climatic influences and the environments OF
high ATTITUDES"
The author proceeds to give an account Of his
experiences in the north while with the revenue
cutter Corwin. THE principal vices among the
people of Alaska" he saws, who are generally
mid and lnOffensive, seem to be fondness for
games OF chance and an uncomfortable craving
tor alcoholic drinks-an appetite which, by the
way two seasons of personal observation and
experience in the Arctic convince me is some
thlng OF physiological necessity. The taste.
however. seems to be an acquired one by the
aOOrlglnes. for saw man at NOunivak Island
to whom the taste was foreign. and on tasting
both brandy and whisky he made wry face and
spat them out with evident disgust.
Illicit traders taking advantage of this
northern craving for drink, have of late years
been in the habit of supplying the most william
Gus compounds. in exchange for small Quanti-
ties of which the improvident Esquimaux gives
his choicest furS. Some captured specimens of
these prohibited articles. bearing the respective
labels of bay rum Jamaica ginger. &c, with a
view to defraudng the revenue, proved on ex-
animation to be nothing but cheap alcohol of a
highly intiammabe nature to which little COL
Oring matter had been added
Speaking of the effects of climate on health
DR.. Rose says: "In addition to the frequent dis
orders of the respiratory organs, rheumatism
and affections of the alimentary canal are quite
common. The latter are principally due to over
loading the stomach after a long fast, and indi-
gestlOn from this cause is So frequent that it is
no uncommon thing to find an EsquimauX suf-
fering for several days from all the remorses of
guilty stomach. The women too, are at
times violently hysterica,, and in this respect do
not difer much from their more civilized sisters
Diseases OF the eye and its appendages are quite
numerous. and among them l noticed several
cases of opacity of the crystalline lens and of the
cornea, and of fatty and pigmental degenera-
tlon Ophthalmia tarsi in it's chronic form and
granular Inflammation of the cOnjunctiva are
common along with amblyopia and astnenopia,
and it is not at all unlikely that a specialist
might exhaust the archaeological vocabulary
In describing the diseases he might observe.
among these numerous eye diseases, how
ever, observed but two cases of total blindness
one in man at st. Lawrence Island and
another at st. Michael's, in native from the in
terror. Mr.. PetrOff. whose duties as census
agent have afforded him great facilities for OBJ
sewing Iuc hIcIIoT POpulaClOu. INFORMS me CTaC
blindness is almost universal among the older
people, most Of whom get blind on reaching the
age of fifty. This blindness, common also to the
lower animals, was once observed by him in
bear at Prince William Sound. The bear with
several others was seen approaching his party
on the beach. and the singular actions of this
particular bear attracting attention. from the
uncertain way in which he walked and was
pushed about by the noses of the other BEARS it
was singled out and shot. when an examina-
ton showed the previous existence of total
blindness, which of course accounted for the
odd movements of the animal
These eye affections are not caused by smoke,
as has been enormously supposed they are
mostly the result of snow blindness in which
the sensibility of the END organs, the rods and
cones ls diminished or exhausted by the pro-
lOnged illumination from the constant sunlight
and the glare from broad expanses of brightly
gllstening snow. The rarefaction of the Arctic
atmosphere the insufficient and impoverished
condition of the blood brought about by bad
feeding and the strumous diathesis may likewise
be mentioned as predispOsing causes.'