MOUNTAIN LABORATORIES 599 



tents and the blood, although this is in general not a matter 

 of physiological importance. There exist certain fishes (mud 

 lamprey, Cobitis fossilis, and some others) which have a 

 proper intestinal respiration. In such instances the mid- 

 intestine seems by the marked development of the network 

 of capillaries in its walls and by a peculiar type of epithelium 

 to have acquired adaptation for a respiratory function to 

 such a degree as to actually enable the animals to provide 

 from the intestine a part of their oxygen requirements from 

 the air that has been swallowed. 



PHYSIOLOGY OF ALPINISM 



In connection with the discussion of the processes of gas 

 interchange, a brief excursion into the field of those phe- 

 nomena which we customarily include under the term 

 "physiology of alpinism " may be permitted. 47 It would 

 scarcely be appropriate to entirely neglect the extensive 

 literature occupied by investigations upon this subject. 

 Nevertheless the author does not hesitate to confess that 

 he would not care to ^attempt to find a way through the 

 labyrinth of contradictory and confusing observations, in 

 which everyone who ventures into these matters finds him- 

 self at once ensnared, were it not that one of the best- 

 informed experts in the subject, A. Durig, 48 has recently 

 treated the problem comprehensively and in such a manner 

 that his statements may serve as a welcome guide. 



Sources of the Observation Material. To the Italian 

 physiologist, Angelo Mosso, belongs the credit of having 

 by his personal initiative made possible the construction of 

 an observatory adapted to physiological studies at high 

 altitudes, Capanna Margherita, situated at an altitude above 



47 Literature upon the Physiology of Alpinism: A. Mosso, Der Mensch auf 

 den Hochalpen, Leipzig, Pub. Veit & Co., 1899 ; A. Jaquet, Ergebn. d. Physiol., 

 2', 521-531, 1903; O. Cohnheim, ibid., 2', 612-638, 1903; Ch. Bohr, Nagel's 

 Handb. d. Physiol., 1, 210-216, 1905; Kronecker, Die Bergkrankheit, Deutsche 

 Klinik, 11, 17-146, 1907; A. Lowy, Handb. d. Biochem., 4', 199-231, 1908. 



48 A. Durig, Wiener klin. Wochenschr., 24, No. 18. 



