Of hysterics I met with but two cases. One maid-servant, twenty-four years of age, had the complaint about once a year; another, about thirty, was attacked with it monthly during the summer.
Epilepsy sometimes occurs. Headachs are frequent; hence the forehead is often seen full of scars (from the application of their toule, or moxa; see vol. 1. p. 274).
Elderly people are often hard of hearing.
The sleep of the Laplanders is commonly sound, and they are in the habit of sleeping or waking whenever they please.
A swelling, or falling down, of the uvula is not uncommon, in which case they frequently cut off the part affected.
When children are troubled with swellings in the glands about the throat, the
usual remedy is to prick the part, and suck out the blood, which is considered as a speedy and effectual cure. If this method be not adopted, they suppose the blood would rise to the head, and cause cutaneous eruptions there.
Coughs are of very rare occurrence, notwithstanding the constant practice of drinking snow- and ice-water, even after swallowing pure grease or fat, which perhaps may prevent its bad consequences. However this may be, the Laplanders seldom die from catching cold. Cases of phthisis, or consumption, do indeed now and then occur among them, and pleurisies are very common, especially in spring and autumn. Lumbago, or pain in the back, is most prevalent during the summer. For this, as I have already mentioned, vol. 1. p. 274, actual cautery, by means of their toule, or moxa, is often applied.
Bleeding at the nose chiefly happens among those Lapland women who are in the service of the colonists, and who, in
consequence of certain obstructions, are subject also to œdematous swellings of the feet.