962 Summary and Conclusions 



oxygen, he felt revived, and after about ten inhalations, he could rise, 

 chat gaily, look at the ground attentively, and make delicate observa- 

 tions. His mind was keen and his memory excellent. To look into 

 the spectroscope he had to breathe this gas, rightly called vital; the 

 lines, at first confused, then became very clear. 



The oxygen also produced in M. Croce-Spinelli an effect whose ex- 

 planation is easy, after what has just been said. To react against the 

 combined effects of cold and rarefaction, he tried to eat. The result 

 was not favorable at first; but when he had the idea of breathing 

 oxygen at the same time, he felt his appetite return and his digestion 

 working smoothly. As for his pulse, it was 140 beats before absorp- 

 tion and 120 immediately - after, between the elevations of .6560 and 

 7400 meters. His pulse on the ground is 80, on the average. 



Neither of us had the bleeding from the nose, lips, and ears of 

 which Gay-Lussac 13 had complained, although our faces were very 

 red and the mucous membrane almost black. At times, as in the bell, 

 we felt heat in our faces and pricklings in our heads. At times, our 

 foreheads seemed clamped in a vice, and there was a sensation of a 

 solid bar of small size pressing hard above the eyebrow. An inha- 

 lation of oxygen dispelled most of these painful sensations. 



The descent was made almost without ballast and without oxygen; 

 the provision, of which M. Croce-Spinelli had absorbed almost two 

 thirds, was exhausted. About 4000 meters, when the temperature had 

 risen to — 7°, M. Sivel was seized with a very strong tremor and 

 extreme discomfort. His face was contracted, and his mouth was 

 opened in a kind of rictus. His companion, though less vigorous, at 

 the time felt only a very keen cold produced by the rapid passage 

 through the air. While at — 22°, we both felt only a rather slight 

 sensation of cold, because the air was calm; we were shivering in the 

 rapid descent. Besides there was certainly another cause of the dis- 

 comfort of M. Sivel; perhaps he had worked too hard. This discomfort 

 disappeared at 2500 meters. 



We had companions in the basket; we took along carrier pigeons, 

 which had been lent us by M. Van Roosbecke. Four pigeons, chosen 

 among the best carriers, were in a cage, with the feather prepared 

 which was to receive the dispatch. They seemed very uncomfortable 

 at lofty elevations; they leaned on their bellies and had their eyelids 

 closed. 



The first pigeon was thrown out at 5000 meters, half an hour 

 after the start. At first it flapped its wings, and tried for some time to 

 get up on its cage, then, seeing that its efforts were in vain, it de- 

 scended with its wings spread out, describing circles of 200 to 300 

 meters in diameter, with a terrifying speed of about 40 to 50 meters 

 per second. That is the only one that returned with its dispatch, and 

 it took more than 30 hours to get to its destination. The second, 

 thrown out after the start, at about 5200 meters, behaved in the same 

 way. However, it had the strength to fly up on its cage. 



We call special attention to the favorable effects of inhalations 

 of oxygen. Return of strength and appetite, decrease of headache, 

 restoration of clear vision, calmness, presence of mind, all the phe- 



