MILAN 



with 120 inches of precipitation, which falls as snow in winter. It 

 has been estimated that the Alacalufs numbered between 3500 and 

 4000 in 1850. Presently there are about 50 Alacalufs who are settled 

 on Wellington Island (Bird, 1946; Cooper, 1946). 



Response to whole body exposure . Hammel etal. (i960) studied 

 nine male Alacalufs exposed for 8 hours during the night to an air 







temperature of 2 G to 4 C and six male Alacalufs during sleep 

 while comfortably warm. Oxygen consumption and skin and rectal 

 temperatures were measured. No controls were used. Atthe begin- 

 ning of the night the metabolic rate was about 60% above the basal 

 values for a standard white European of the same weight, height, and 

 age. In similar circumstances a white would be no more than 20% 

 above basal values (Hammel et al., 1959). The average metabolism 

 during the cold nights was indistinguishable from that during the 

 warm nights, except for occasional bursts of shivering, and meta- 

 bolism gradually decreased over the 8 hour period. The Alacalufs 

 resembled the Indians of Old Grow in their metabolic responses, 

 which were nearly twice as great as those measured in the Aus- 

 tralian aborigines during a similar exposure. Rectal temperatures 



were about the same as those measured in European controls, while 



o o 



skin temperatures were about 1 C lower. Thefeet were about 2 C 



to 3 G warmer. Measurements of tissue conductance in the Alaca- 



hifs showed complete vasodilation in these subjects when sleeping 



warm. During the cold nights, tissue conductance was halved, but it 



was still 30% higher than in the Australian aborigines. 



Responses to extremity cooling. Eisner in Hammeletal. (1960) 



measured the heat output of the feet and hands of Alacaluf Indians 



and three white controls in cold water. The hands and feet, after an 



o o o 



initial immersion in 30 G water, were placed in 5 G and 10 C 



water, respectively. The range ofheat output in these subjects over- 

 lapped that of white controls. Whereas the Alacaluf men and women 

 reported no pain, the controls experienced intense pain in the feet 

 during the immersion. 



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