The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-10-23
LIFE
Mistaken Ideas About Arc
tic Conditions.
IF. A. Cook, NJ. D., in the Medical
Record.)

There is such a perverted impress
sion in the popular mind about the act
ual arctic conditions, that l always find
it difficult to impress my listeners with
a real knowledge Of polar phenomena,
The surroundings are, Of course, wild
enough to satisfy the most savage
longings, but it must not be inferred
that the temperature of the air is al
ways below zero nor that the land is
completely buried by perennial snow,
nor that the sea is always covered by
paleo-crystic ice foes or mountainous
ice masses. During the long arctic
night such conditions are fairly con-
slant, but for much of the year the
| genial rays of the sun are felt.
| Our headquarters (the first Peary
| expedition in 1891 We're pitched on the
| northwest coast of Greenland near the
| 18th parallel of latitude, which is about
midway between the north pole and
the arctic circle In this latitude the
| seasons are briefly as follows: A long
nightless summer day of nearly four
months and an extended dayless winter
| night of nearly four months. These
| periods are separated from each other
| by season of advancing night during
| the autumn, when the sun gradually
| recedes, but reappears for a shorter
period every succeeding day until it
| finally remains below the horizon on
Oct. 25. In the spring there is a
similar period, but it is the dawn of
| the coming day. The sun reappears on
! Feb. IA. 1t first remains only few
minutes but each succeeding day it
rises higher and sweeps more of the
| southern Sky, until about May 1 it re-
mains above the horizon and then the
begins
The specific effects of cold and dark
ness and light are difficult of analysis,
more so among the members of our par
| ty than among the native people and
animals. The effect of isolation, of
change of food, clothing and habits of
life are so potent that any physical or
mental peculiarities must necessarily
| include these elements.
The withdrawal of heat is so gradual
that the animal organisms have an OPP
! portunity to protect themselves. Dur
ing the summer (the only time when the
extreme north is Accessibility the tenn
perature and some of the meteorologi-
cal conditions are much like our March
| and April weather. Incredible myriads
of birds in summer plumage, fresh from
the temperate zone, now congregate on
| the off-lying islands and moss covered
rocky cliffs. But with the first warning
of the polar night, as the sun drops be-
| low the southern sky, they quickly en-
igrate to a more cOngenial land, leaving
apparently lifeless the cold shores
Which have been animated by their wild
shrills of love and joy. Their powers
and instincts are such that they have
only to seek the lands which are best
adapted to their manner of living Many
| of the forms of sea life are able to do
| the same. But men and all other land
animals must remain and become adap-
ted to the changing conditions.
The polar bear changes his fur during
| the summer to protect him from the
| expected cold next winter but life is
to him an awful struggle during the
Hong night. Nevertheless, he early de-
| velops an ability to fast for prolonged
periods, which is a faculty possessed
| by all other arctic land life. The near
| ly complete covering of the sea by the
| winter ice depriveS him of his aecus-
toned source Of food. Hence he must
either hibernate or find his way far out
over a lifeless sea of ice to the open
water, where varying fortunes may put
| him in possession of an unwary seal
| But with all bruins ingenuity and
| hard learned adaptability long periods
of famine are always before him.
The native people, like the animals
| have evolved a system of life and
adaptation to their habitat which could
not be much improved by civilized aid
| They are able to withstand long Pc
RODS of famine like the deer and bear
| with no apparent injury, except a loss
| of bodily weight Their cutaneous
circulation is always profuse. The
muscular outlines are largely obliter-
atcd by an development of fbro-fatty
tissue like that of the seal and walrus
Inn.
| creased to afford greater surface for
the absorption of heterogeneous and
fatty foods.
[ shall always remember our camps
while travelling over the tracl0less
wastes CT snow during this period par
ticularly the stormy scenes. We I'M
dressed in the open air. crept into our
sleeping bags, and with rare delight
stretched out upon the virgin fields of
snow for a long sleep. There was
nothing but the high blue sky above
us, and often there We're many hun
| dred feet of snow and ice beneath U.S.
| At first after reclining, we were near
| " stiff from cold, but this was soon
| followed by glowing reaction, when
we We're conscious of bounding streams
| of heated blood sent throbbing
through tense arteries. We felt doubly
| the wild pleasures of primitive life, as
we heard the roaring storms and felt
the snow-charged winds blasting
! against our protected bodies.
| Such storms always brought us to
sharp consciousness of the superb ami
| NAL comforts as comforts go in the
artic. All of this served to enhance
our admiration for the wonderful
mechanisms of the human body Moth
| ing could bring one to a keener realiza-
| ton of this than our experience To
| feel the heart force heat and life to the
surface while resting over and some
times under blanket of protecting
snow, is to feel the electric glow which
| for the want of better term, we call
| life.
In conclusion, I wish to emphasize
| the fact that it is not the low temper
ature of the arctic. from which eXplor-
ers suffer. 1t is the long and intense
| darkness and the inability to carry suf-
| ficient food and accustomed aids to
| personal comfort. But this is easily
counterbalanced by the acute passions
of life as they are brought out by the
prolonged monday splendor after rest
ing i'll the long darkness The white
! lights and dark shades entering into
the soul, make life a long dream-the
| spirit now effervescing, then smoth-
| cred again almost frozen, only to be
thawed out for an ascent into an at
mosphere of heavenly purity In my
Judgment. polar grandness lifts the
Lmind's horizon, and. as a whole, the
experience affords wild, weird and
! poetic existence long to be remem-
| bered.
LITERAL.