Abstract
WITH reference to the effect of diminished atmospheric pressure on the vital powers, alluded to in Prof. Bonney's review of Mr. Whymper's “Travels among the Great Andes of the Equator” (NATURE, April 14, p. 561), I do not know whether it is worth while recalling the well-known fact that numerous passes in the Himalayas, ranging from 17,000 to 19,000 feet, are habitually traversed by the hillmen, in the summer, with their flocks of sheep and goats carrying borax, &c. The highest pass is said to exceed 20,400 feet. In the same mountains Messrs. Schlagintweit reached an altitude of about 22,200 feet (Proc. As. Soc. Bengal, January 1866), while Mr. W. W. Graham ascended to 23,500 feet in 1883 (NATURE, September 11, 1884). I have myself, on several occasions, been to elevations of 17,000 to 19,000 feet, and beyond shortness of breath when climbing, never experienced any ill effects except once, when I, the four plainsmen with me, and three out of a considerable number of hillmen, felt severe headache during the evening after crossing a high pass. My companion on one trip, however, almost invariably suffered very severely from mountain sickness under similar circumstances.
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MALLET, F. Physiological Action of Diminished Atmospheric Pressure. Nature 45, 606 (1892). https://doi.org/10.1038/045606c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/045606c0
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