﻿22 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL, 59 



6. PHYSIOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE 

 KHARGA OASIS NATIVES 



The people of the Oasis, while ignorant, and therefore apprehen- 

 sive and superstitious, were found on the whole to be fairly intelli- 

 gent. They are mild, polite, not very energetic or enterprising, but 

 not idlers. They are in general poorly nourished and show the 

 effects of that condition in their lack of initiative and diminished 

 strength as well as endurance, which conditions are marked in all 

 their activities. 



The observations to be recorded were made during the latter part 

 of February, which is a season quite free from climatic extremes 

 and a healthier one than other parts of the year. 



The tests undertaken were the same as those on Indians, reported 

 by the writer in 1908, 1 and were carried out with the same instru- 

 ments and in like manner, so that these two series of data are entirely 

 comparable. They relate to the pulse, respiration, temperature, and 

 manual with arm strength of the people, and extend to 150 adult 

 males. The subjects were mainly from the Kharga village and nearby 

 settlements. They were all free, it should be stated again, from negro 

 admixture, as far as ascertainable, and free from any complaints or 

 disease which would incapacitate them for work. They were exam- 

 ined as a rule only after being rested and in the absence of exciting 

 circumstances. The men took to the examination kindly ; if any were 

 found in whom the state of the tongue or other organs indicated a 

 systemic disarrangement of any consequence, they were excluded ; 

 and with the other precautions taken, it seems safe to say that the 

 results which will be given in the following pages, represent fairly 

 the normal or average conditions at the Oasis, at that period. The 

 examination of the women and children would have added materially 

 to the interest and value of these tests, but for reasons already stated 

 was impossible. 



PULSE 2 



The results on 94 healthy male individuals, of all ages, as shown 

 in the accompanying table, give an average which is by 4 or 5 beats 



1 Hrdlicka, A. : Physiological and Medical Observations Among the Indians 

 of Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. Bull. 34, Bureau Amer. 

 Ethnology, 8°, Washington, 1908, pp. 1-460. 



2 Compare data in writer's " Physiological and Medical Observations, etc., 

 pp. 138 et seq. 



