The evening times., 1898-11-19
LIFE IN THE ARCTIC.
Mistaken Ideas About Conditions in
the Far North.

| IF. A. McCook, in the Medical Record)
There is such perverted impression in
| the popular mind about the actual arctic
conditions that | always find il difficult
! TO impress my listeners with real
! knowledge OF polar phenomena. The sur
roundings are. of course, wild enough to
satisfy the most savage longings, but it
must not be inferred that the tempera-
ture of the air Is always below zero, nor
! that the land is completely buried by
perennial snow, nor that the sea is al
ways covered by paleocrystic ice foes or
mountainous ice masses. During the long
arctic night such conditions are fairly
| constant, but for much of the year the
genial rays OF the sun are felt.
Our headquarters Ghe first Peary ex-
peditionJ. in 1891 were pitched on the
| northwest coast of Greenland. near the
seyenty-eighth parallel of latitude which
is about midway between the North Poe
and the Arctic Circle. In this latitude
| the seasons are briefly as follows:
long nightless summer day of near
| ly four months and an extended dayless
winter night of near four months These
periods are separated from each other by
a 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 October %. In the
| spring there Is a similar period, but IL is
the dawn OF the coming day. The sun
reappears on February IA. II first re-
mains only few minutes. but each sue
! ceeding day il rises higher and sweeps
more of the southern sky until about
May !, 1t remains above the horizon. and
| then the long arctic day with its silvery
glory begins.
The specific effects of cold and darkness
and light are difficult of analysis more
so among the members of our party than
among the native people and animals. The
effect OF isolation, Of change OF food
clothing and habits of life are so pot ent
! that any physical or mental peculsritlys
must necessarily include these elements.
| The withdrawal of heal is so gradual
| that the animal organisms have an oppor-
! tunity to protect themselves. During the
summer Uhe only time when the extreme
north is accessibel the temperature and
| some of the meteorological 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 off5ying islands
! and mnss-covered rocky cliffs But with
! the first warning of polar night. as the
| sun drops below the southern sky they
! quickly emigrate to more congenal 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 10
their manner OF living Many of the
| forms of sea life are able 10 do the same.
! But men and all other land animals must
remain and become adapted to the chang
! ing conditions.
The polar bear changes his fur during
the summer to protect him from the ex-
pected cold next winter, but life is to him
an awful struggle during the long night.
| Nevertheless he early develops an ability
| TO fast for prolonged periods. which is a
! faculty possessed by all the other Arctic
! land life. The nearly complete covering
of the sea by the winter ice deprives him