﻿NO. I 



NATIVES OF KHARGA OASIS HRDLICKA 



23 



per minute higher than the general average in male whites, and from 

 9 to 19 beats per minute higher than shown by various tribes of the 

 American native. The most common pulse-rates at Kharga are 

 those between 71 and 80. 



KHARGA OASIS, MEN: PULSE (PER MINUTE) 1 



Number of observations : 94. 



Average: 76. (1st series of 46: 77.5; 2d series of 48: 74.5.) 



Median: 75. Mode: 72. 



Minimum : 54. Maximum : 105. 



Table of frequencies : 























O 







o\ 



Tt- 



On 



Tf 



Os 



rf 



ON 



Tl- 



On 









ID 



1 



MD 



t^ 



r^ 



oc 



00 



o\ 



? 



O 



m 





Tf 



O 



10 



O 



to 



a 



in 







m 



O 



O 





m 



NO 



MO 



t^ 



t^ 



00 



On 



On 







Number of cases. . . . 



I 



8 



8 



29 



21 14 



2 



8 



j 



I 



I 



Per cent 



1.1 



8.5 



8.5 



30.8 ?2 3 \J4.Q 



2.1 



8.5 



1.1 



1.1 



1.1 













1 In sitting position. 



The causes of the frequency of a relatively rapid pulse and hence 

 heart-beat at the Oasis are not easy to determine. The phenomenon 

 is not due to rarefied air, for the Oasis lies, on the average, less than 

 100 meters above the sea-level. It is in no case connected with 

 alcoholism, for that vice is practically absent, 1 nor with any abuse or 

 even the use of coffee, tea or tobacco, which articles are still to a 

 large extent luxuries in the Oasis. There are also no drug habits. 

 The general environmental conditions, finally, are much like those in 

 the American deserts, and in the latter no accelerating influence has 

 been manifested thus far on the slow pulse of the Indian. It therefore 

 seems that the relatively high pulse rate at the Oasis is in the main a 

 long established, hereditary condition. 



Further inquiries, however, were made into the subject, to show 

 what, if any, relation the phenomenon had to the most important 

 conditions of the body. 



1 The natives make a sort of beer from the sap of the date-palm and a 

 stronger liquor from the dates, but the quantity made is not large and is 

 limited, particularly in the latter case, in season. According to Beadnell (An 

 Egyptian Oasis, p. 218), the weaker liquor is called "lagmi." It "has a pe- 

 culiar insipid taste. It is obtained by making a deep incision in the top of the 

 date-palm, the liquid oozing out and being collected in a vessel, generally 

 made of the rind of a gourd. As much as 10 quarts can be obtained in a day, 

 and the tree may be bled once or twice a month without sustaining any harm ; 

 the operation may, in fact, prove of considerable benefit to a sickly palm." 



