A group of Gaspé fishermen used to cold water immersion and control subjects from the same vicinity were studied to determine if the fishermen's hands were adapted to cold. With one hand immersed in cold water, the pressor response was greater in the control subjects; the fishermen maintained a higher finger temperature and complained less of pain; heat flow from the fishermen's hands was greater than in the control group; finger numbness as measured by a modification of Mackworth's V-test was variable and not significantly different in the two groups. Skin biopsies showed no difference in skin thickness or cell size but there was a significantly greater number of mast cells in the fishermen's skin. The differences between the fishermen and the control subjects may be related to repeated cold exposure. Submitted on June 7, 1960

Metabolic and thermal studies were conducted at night at Pangnirtung, N.W.T., on a group of ten Eskimo hunters from Cumberland Sound, Baffin Island, and on three white controls, to compare their reactions to cold (5 ± 1 C) with that of other racial groups. Cumberland Sound Eskimos maintained a resting metabolism that was elevated, according to DuBois standards, during sleep on warm nights. This elevation was not found in hospitalized men who had been living for an average of 6 months in Edmonton, Alberta. During exposure to moderate cold, the Cumberland Sound Eskimos and white controls had an elevated metabolism, shivering, and a disturbed sleep. Peripheral temperatures were maintained at a higher level in Eskimos than in whites. Because of the absence of marked physiological differences between Eskimos and whites, it is concluded that the principal adaptation of these Eskimos to their climate is technological. Submitted on June 4, 1962

During 7 hours of comfortably warm sleep, average metabolic rates of 11 Indian and 7 white men were alike. Since the Indians were 15% lighter their metabolic rates (MR's) referred to weight were greater. During a night at 0° with insufficient covering, MR's rose to 129% and 132% in the two groups. Cold caused equal myographic records of shivering (15% and 13% of records) and gross muscular movement appeared in 6.5% of the records for each group. Encephalograms showed that Indians slept more (51%) than whites (31%). Shivering was recorded in Indians and white men during encephalographic indications of sleep. Rectal temperatures of Indians declined about 0.5°. During cold nights skin on the bodies of all subjects cooled 3°–5° and about 15° on the feet. All subjects were disagreeably cold, but their cold sensations stimulated metabolic heat production only half as much as would be necessary to maintain fairly comfortable warmth. Submitted on August 3, 1959