96 Historical 



The little dog which accompanied us had to struggle against sleep 

 as soon as we had passed the Grand-Plateau, and every time we 

 stopped, it tried to lie down at our feet, finding the snow cold. It 

 showed more than one sign of surprise, often casting wild eyes around 

 it. Sometimes it made an effort to run very fast, and sometimes fell 

 down exhausted. As for its appetite, the chicken bones we gave it 

 disappeared with astonishing speed, but it did not appear to suffer 

 from thirst .... 



Hedringer, wishing to have the glory of being the first to set foot 

 on the crest, began to run, but he had hardly taken a few steps, when 

 from exhaustion he stretched himself out stiffly on the snow for two 

 or three minutes, enduring cruel pains. He felt the consequences of 

 his mistaken ardor as long as we remained on the summit (P. 56) ... 



Our breathing became more and more free as we descended, and 

 we felt so light that we hardly seemed to touch the ground (P. 59). 



After that time, the ascents of Mont Blanc became more numer- 

 ous. From that of Atkins to the celebrated expedition of Bravais, 

 Lepileur and Martins, in 1844, there were 17; but I can hardly call 

 any of them interesting except that of Mile. d'Angeville (Septem- 

 ber 4, 1838), who had to be almost carried to the summit. 



Dr. Rey 1& ~ in the following words reports the symptoms felt 

 by this daring woman: 



I learned from Mile. Dangeville that in her usual condition her 

 pulse beats 58 to 60 times per minute, very soft and very regular. 

 When she left Chamounix for the ascent, it was already 64 and 

 increasing, emotion was beginning: at the Grands-Mulets, it was 70 

 and irregular, although she felt better, mentally and physically. On 

 the grade which is above the Grand-Plateau, where she began to feel 

 a little tired and sleepy, she counted 136 beats at unequal intervals, 

 that is, much more than double the number in her ordinary condition. 

 When she had reached a place called the Mur de la Cote, near the last 

 crest, she felt a sort of agony, caused by an excessive need for sleep, 

 and she cannot tell how high this extraordinary acceleration rose 

 during her severe attack, but five minutes after she reached the 

 summit, the pulse of the noble and intrepid French woman had already 

 dropped to 108 (p. 341). 



Now let us consider the other mountains. 



The celebrated naturalist Desor, 130 in the report of numerous 

 excursions with a prolonged stay in lofty places which he made in 

 the company of the illustrious Agassiz, is surprised at feeling 

 and observing no physiological disturbance; he is especially struck 

 by it at the time of his ascent of the Jungfrau (4170 meters) in 

 1841: 



I must confess that while we were on the summit, and also during 

 the ascent, we experienced none of those symptoms, such as nausea, 

 nosebleed, buzzing in the ears, acceleration of the pulse, and many 



