Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1884-09-04
Life in High LatitudeS.


4 private interview with Lieutenant Gree
w. al his former home, has enabled us TO OBJ
tain somewhat clearer insight into the
physiological and pathological effects Of pro-
longed residence in the Polar regions, as
we'll a. the straits 10 which the Greely party
were finally reduced He asccrtalned that
such sojourn, BY inhabitants of warmer eli
mates who are in good physical trim, is for
a brief term Of wears compatible with high
state of all the organic functions, in which
there is entire freedom from diseased mani
festations of every kind but there is de-
cidcd limit 10 the endurance by Europeans
and Americans of such extreme prolonged
cold the system is at first, and for long
time, hy an admirable series of internal adj
justment~, braced up against the ngors OF
climate, but after the first year a consider
able deterioration IN muscular and nervous
energy, and in the calorigcnous processes of
the economy is experienced. Inc severity
Of the second winter was found by the party
>omew ha, harder 10 bear, but the experience
Of the previous winter had taught them how
best 10 fortiiy and protect themselves and
psband their forces. Tie third long Are
tic night, in which the thermometer was never
les than .hrre beiow zero, and much OF the
time was down TO forty Or fifty below, would
under the most favorable circumstances have
been painful season TO the party vital re-
action was qlite pcrcephbly lessened ; mus
cular tone was impaired, rendering eNertIon
difficult, and rheumatgsms began TO prevail.
Could the party, however, have had plenty
of food. and full and good shelter. they
would undoubtedly have all been living at
tins day.
Lleutenan, Grceiv, IN reply 10 an inter
rJ.atorv. affirmed his doubt TO whether
his men Il vel! pro,I>ioned, could have con-
,nucd To i've at Fort Conger more than five
wears The constitution OF the average
american is not capable Of polonged contln-
u0us adjustment 10 more than zero cold. and
such accumulation could only come about
after a series OF generations where the law
Of sul,il al OF the tittest should operate, and
in correspondence with arai.cIl change IN or
ganilation, in which uutrltINe and muscular
Development should predominant over cere-
hral Development il ntLer words, nature
has shown Us in the mentally dwarted but
physically hardy Esquimaux, the type of OF
sanilullon best fitted for living IN those sep
trntrinnal latitudts. II, however, is no less
a matter of fact that the inhabitants Of
meridonal cimcs admirably adapt them
selves temporarily to the most extreme eo!d.
Ia The retreat from Moscow. IN 1872, the
Italian regiments stood the cold better than
the Germans, and notably better than the
Russians who were accustomed To the ell
mate. The Turks presented the same reia-
tive immunity at the siege OF Sebastopu!.
Ionget, from whom these facts are taken,
remarks that the aptitude to resist lnciemcnt
temperature is acquired and lost IN turn
that people nurtured in temperate or cold
climates, who 20 to the torrd zone to live,
are much less sensitive to the cold for time
after their return to their native country,
though this lessened susceptibility dlsap-
pears after year or two.
As man can live amid intense surrounding
cold only by keeping his internal tempera
ture at about 9S l-2 degrees F., all the cal
origenous centres-whch comprise every
living element or cell in every part of the
body-are stimulated to greatly augmented
activity; the respiratory, digestive, AMI as
similative processes are performed with un-
wonted energy; 7; the hearts action and the
circulation are notably quickened. Lieu
tenant Greedy remarked that breathing air
of such intense coldness had something
of the effect produced by breathing pure
oxygen as for pulmonary troubles he heard
no complaint of them while the party was at
Fort Conger, in Lady Franklin Bay, at
latitude Of about 50 degrees, where the first
two years were spent; even simple catarrhs
were unknown, the only thing from which
the men suffered being occasional rheuma-
tisms and stiffness Of the muscles and
joints.
The party had ferocious appetites during
all of this long solourn in the North, each
man eating with relish three meals of ami
nal food and two lunches every day, and
craving fats though not to the extent which
some Arctic travellers report. Not even
when the thermometer marked 60 degrees
below zero did these men indulge in crude
blubber or talow candles, which tradition
has designated as the customary food of
Arctic vovagers nor was even pemmlcan
regarded as rare and dainty dish by them.
Canned meats, of which they had an abund-
ance during the first two years, and steak
or lagout from the walrus. seal or Polar
bear were priced as the essential conditions
of wel-being. As for sprituous liquors,
they were used with great moderation and
doled out to the members of the expedition
as occasion seemed to demand, and only
when some unusual exertion or exposure
brought extraordinary fatigue or prostra-
ton as means to fortify the system against
cold or brace it up for forced marches, whis-
key, rum and other alcoholic stimulants
we're regarded as of little benefit.
The party slept well during their long
stay at the North, except during the last
few months Of physiological misery, when
the pangs Of hunger and the weakened, dis
ordered condition of their anemic brains
precluded refreshing sleep; in the case of
some of them the horrors of scurvy made