120 Historical 



Andes, on the Altai, on the Himalayas .... everywhere. No animal 

 is immune to it, at a certain height; and as for me, I confess humbly 

 that I can hardly breathe on the summit of Mont Blanc; in fact, we 

 were all sick, more or less, including the guides. On the Calotte, 

 where the slope is very gentle, not one of us could take more than 

 thirty-four steps without pausing a long time. And that was not 

 fatigue, because in two hours we were descending to the Grands- 

 Mulets, in very good health and full of vigor. (P. 243.) 



How few "mountaineers" and "Alpinists" will have courage to 

 make a similar confession! 



6. The Pyrenees. 



Since the highest mountains of the Pyrenees do not attain 3500 

 meters, the symptoms due to decreased pressure can be felt there 

 only under exceptional conditions. So travellers generally do not 

 mention this subject, and when they speak of it, it is usually to 

 declare that they have had no such experiences. 



The first author to mention physiological phenomena observed 

 in the Pyrenees is Robert Boyle, 107 but he gives only second-hand 

 information: 



A gentleman of learning had made the ascent of the peak of Midi 

 in the month of September. I asked him whether he had found the 

 air on the summit as plentiful for breathing as that belew. He said 

 no, that he was forced to breathe more frequently and less deeply 

 than usual. And as I thought that perhaps that came from the move- 

 ment, I asked him whether this difficulty had ceased after his arrival 

 at the summit; he answered: "Yes, evidently, for we could not have 

 remained several hours on this summit with such difficulty in breath- 

 ing." (P. 2039). 



During the eighteenth century, a fairly large number of ascents 

 were made, for scientific reasons, on different mountains of the 

 Pyrenees, and those not the least lofty. The book of Dralet 1<1S 

 gives an interesting summary of the data formerly observed: 



The artists who were employed in 1700 in constructing on Canigou 

 a pyramid for determining the meridian felt no symptom. MM. Vidal 

 and Reboul passed three days and three nights on the summit of the 

 peak of Midi of Bigorre without any inconvenience; I have always 

 been immune, and so have my travelling companions, not only on this 

 same peak, but also on the loftiest ridges which separate France from 

 Spain .... However some travellers have been affected in the 

 Pyrenees, even at moderate heights. In 1741, M. Plantade, celebrated 

 astronomer of Languedoc, died at the age of 70 beside his quadrant, 

 on the Hourquette des Cinq-Ours (1244) fathoms. Count Dolomieu, in 

 August, 1782, almost met the same fate; he was attacked by a violent 

 fever which kept him from reaching the summit of the peak 10 '; 



