Page:A description of Greenland.djvu/85

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of Greenland.
57
and Diſtempers of the Breaſt, they know nothing here of the many other Diſeaſes with which other Countries are plagued; Thick Miſts the cauſe of Breaſt Diſeaſes.and theſe Pectoral Infimities are not ſo much the Effects of the exceſſive Cold, as of that naſty foggiſh Weather, which this Country is very much ſubject to;Froſt-Smoak and Vapours in the Winter. which I impute to the vaſt Quantity of Ice that covers the Land, and drives in the Sea. From the Beginning of April to the End of July is the foggiſh Seaſon, and from that time the Fog daily decreaſes. But as in the Summer Time they are troubled with the Fog, ſo in the Winter Seaſon they are likewiſe plagued with the Vapour called Froſt-Smoak, which when the Cold is exceſſive, riſes out of the Sea as the Smoak out of a Chimney, and is as thick as the thickeſt Miſt, eſpecially in the Bays, where there is any Opening in the ice. 'Tis very remarkable, that this Froſt, Damp, or Smoak, if you come near it, will ſinge the very Skin of your Face and Hands; but whe you are in it, you find no ſuch piercing or ſinging Sharpneſs, but warm and ſoft; only
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