Gonorrhea appears common in both sexes, but syphilis seems to be unknown in spite of the promiscuous intercourse of the women with the whalemen. One case of uterine hemorrhage was observed. Cutaneous diseases are rare. A severe ulcer on the leg, of long standing, was cured by our surgeon, to whose observations I am chiefly indebted for what I have to say about the diseases of these people; and one man had lost the cartilage of his nose and was marked all over the body with hideous scars from what appeared to be some form of scrofulous disease. A single case of tumor on the deltoid muscle was observed. Rheumatism is rather frequent. All are subject to snow blindness in the spring, and sores on the face from neglected frost bites are common. Many are blind in one eye from what appears to be cataract or leucoma, but only one case of complete blindness was noticed. Dr. Sutherland states that he does not recollect a single instance of total blindness among the Eskimo that he saw in Baffin Land, and expresses the opinion that “An individual in such a state would be quite unfit for the life of toil and hardship to which the hardy Esquimaux is exposed. The neglect consequent upon this helpless condition most probably cuts off its afflicted objects.”[N26] [Footnote N26: Journ. Ethnol. Soc., vol. 4, p. 206.] This seems quite reasonable on a priori grounds, but nevertheless the blind man at Cape Smyth had lived to middle age in very comfortable circumstances, and though supported to a great extent by his relatives he was nevertheless able to do a certain share of work, and had the reputation of being a good paddler for a whaling umiak. Injuries are rare. One man had lost both feet at the ankle and moved about with great ease and rapidity on his knees. All are subject to bleeding at the nose and usually plug the bleeding nostril with a bunch of deer hair.[N27] [Footnote N27: Compare what Davis wrote in 1586 of the Greenlanders: “These people are much given to bleed, and, therefore, stoppe theyr noses with deere hayre or the hayre of an elan.” Hakluyt, Voyages, etc., 1589, p. 782.] This habit, as it has been termed, of vicarious hemorrhage seems to be characteristic of the Eskimo race wherever they have been met with, and has been supposed to be a process of nature for relieving the fullness of the circulatory system caused by their exclusively animal diet.[N28] [Footnote N28: Egede, Greenland, p. 120; Crantz, vol. 1, p. 234 (Greenland); Southerland. Journ. Ethnol. Soc., vol. IV, p. 207 (Baffin Land); Chappell, “Hudson Bay,” p. 74 (North Shore of Hudson Strait); Lyon, Journal, p. 18 (Hudson Strait); Franklin, 1st Exp., I, p. 29 (Hudson Strait); Parry, 2d Voy., p. 544 (Igluilik); Hooper, Tents of the Tuski, p. 185 (Plover Bay, Siberia).]