130 



Cluster VIII 



conclusion as Morawitz, namely that in spite of all that has been said 

 and written on the subject they could detect no considerable increase in 

 the number of corpuscles or the amount of haemoglobin in the blood. 

 At the time we were at Col d'Olen, Haldane and his collaborators 

 Douglas, Yendell Henderson and Schneider (10) , were investigating the 

 same problem on Pikes Peak (14,000 feet high). They went into the 

 matter with great care ; estimating (1) the number of corpuscles by 

 two different types of haematocytometer, Barker's and Thoma-Zeiss' ; 

 (2) the oxygen capacity of 1 c.c. of blood by a haemoglobinometer 

 and by direct determinations with ferricyanide ; (3) the total blood 



-535K* 



^':s2kLJi 



FIG. 71. Pikes Peak observatory', Colorado, altitude 14,000 feet (Haldane, 

 Douglas, Henderson and Schneider). 



volume and total oxygen capacity of the body by the CO method 

 already described. The following charts show clearly that the results 

 which they obtained for the various members of the party were very 



uniform. 



In each case there was a gradual rise in the total oxygen capacity 

 which reached its maximal value, only after some time, about three 

 weeks after the ascent, This perhaps is the essential point, for it 

 proves quite clearly that the body reacts to the altitude either by 

 producing increased quantities of haemoglobin or by retaining what 

 would otherwise be broken. This at least is a positive reaction. 



