328 Historical 



the same cause. In the enormous range in which the Indus, the 

 Bramapoutra, and the Ganges rise, one reaches the dangerous 

 passes only after he has walked for a long time over hilly territory, 

 the strata of which, rising higher and higher, gradually prepare 

 him for the effects of the lofty heights. The transitions there are 

 very slow; the dreaded symptoms should appear very late, and 

 this actually happens. 



But of course this great effect must be reconciled with climatic 

 conditions and other causes of variations which we have already 

 noted. It seems to us that, except for a few cases which are still 

 hard to interpret and upon which the discussion of theories sug- 

 gested will cast some light, the strange irregularities which we 

 mentioned at the beginning of this section can almost all be 

 explained satisfactorily. 



2. Symptoms of Mountain Sickness. 



Mountain sickness, the veta, puna, mareo, or soroche of the 

 South Americans, the bis, tunk, dum, mundara, seran, or ais of 

 the mountaineers of central Asia, the ikak of the natives of Borneo, 

 is composed, at its maximum intensity, of a group of dangerous 

 symptoms, which affect at the same time all the great physiologi- 

 cal functions: innervation, locomotion, circulation, respiration, and 

 digestion. We shall first summarize them in accordance with the 

 preceding accounts, assigning them to each of these divisions of 

 natural phenomena. 



Digestion. Exaggerated thirst, distaste not only for eating, but 

 even for the sight and smell of food, lack of flavor in liquids, 

 nausea, and vomiting have been noted by almost all travellers. 

 One eats very little on lofty mountains; Martins and Bravais, with 

 three guides, made a good meal on the rations for one man. As 

 for violent symptoms, nothing is more striking than the descrip- 

 tion given by Acosta: "After vomiting food, phlegm, and bile, one 

 yellow and the other green, I even threw up blood" (page 24) . The 

 modest euphemism of English travellers about "heavings of the 

 diaphragm" and "distress in the stomach" give glimpses of the 

 picture energetically drawn by the old Jesuit. In the narratives 

 of the first chapter, we shall find it difficult to make a selection 

 among the many descriptions. Sometimes the stomach becomes so 

 sensitive that it cannot endure a spoonful of water (page 158) . 



Diarrhea has been noted, probably as a result of the spurts 

 of bile injected into the intestine during the efforts to vomit. "My 

 companions were exhausted with vomiting and defecating", Acosta 



