274 Historical 



observed and the theories put forth. The most interesting part 

 consists of a very harsh criticism of the works and opinions of 

 M. Jourdanet, whom he considers completely vanquished by Coin- 

 det. According to him: 



The proportion of carbonic acid in the air expired, as indicating 

 the activity of hematosis on altitudes of more than 2000 meters, 

 showed that the average exhalation of this gas is not less than it is at 

 sea level. 



We have already shown what one should think of this asser- 

 tion, to which the very figures of Coindet would give much too 

 complete a contradiction, in our opinion. 



Then, finding the comparison made by M. Jourdanet between 

 mountain sickness and bleeding, and expressed in these striking 

 and accurate terms: "An ascent above 3000 meters is a baro- 

 metric disoxygenation of the blood, just as a bleeding in a cor- 

 puscular disoxygenation", M. Leroy de Mericourt finds nothing 

 better to say about it than to qualify it as strange: 



Moreover, (he says) a priori, the objection may be raised against 

 M. Jourdanet that the absorption of oxygen by the venous blood is 

 not a purely physical fact, the result of a simple solution, but that 

 chemical forces play an important part in this fixation of oxygen. 



I was very desirous of reporting this opinion because it shows 

 well what the sentiment of the most learned and the best authori- 

 ties was in 1866. We must, in fact, wait for the theory expressed 

 by M. Jourdanet, the accuracy of which I have demonstrated ex- 

 perimentally, to be considered soon as a thing so simple and evi- 

 dent that everyone will claim to be its originator, or at least will 

 refuse it any merit of originality. 



I now come to the passage penned by M. Gavarret. 



After reviewing a few principles of elementary physics, the 

 learned professor of the Faculty of Paris continues in these words: 



When he ascends a lofty mountain on joot, man accomplishes a 

 quantity of mechanical labor which varies with the weight of his 

 body, the height of the ascent, the nature and the disposition of the 

 ground on which he walks. To the mechanical force which he thus 

 expends there corresponds a consumption of a determined quantity 

 of the organic materials of his blood, the combustion of which pro- 

 duces no thermic effect. Independently of the quantity of heat 

 necessary for the maintenance of his own temperature, the respiratory 

 combustions must therefore furnish the calorific equivalent of the 

 mechanical force expended during the ascent. To understand thor- 

 oughly the consequences of this forced increase of the respiratory 

 activity, let us give our attention to a specific example. 



