ARCTIC COLD AND TROPICAL HEAT. 339 



with ice, and in an almost inanimate condition ; from this 

 state however, Dr. Laing says, he soon quite recovered, 

 on the application of warmth and the administration 

 of cordials. The object of mentioning the case is to 

 show the rapid way in which the system becomes 

 paralyzed, when brought into contact with great cold, 

 as for example by immersion in the sea. In very 

 cold water the strongest man lasts but a very short 

 time, as we have said; yet on the other hand, dry 

 cold, in a perfectly still atmosphere, is seldom dangerous, 

 or even seriously inconvenient, provided that men are 

 thoroughly well equipped against it. Dr. Moss, of 

 H.M.S. Alert, for instance, says that: 



" It was possible to walk for two or three hours over snow- 

 clad hills, in a temperature 100 degrees below zero, without 

 getting frost-bite only the face and lungs are really exposed, 

 and neither appear to suffer from it; and our experience (he 

 says) led us to think that men thoroughly prepared might 

 safely encounter far lower temperatures. " " Many a time (he 

 proceeds to remark) the relative merits of arctic cold and 

 tropical heat were warmly discussed. Several of both our 

 officers and men had lately returned from the Ashantee 

 campaign, and they could speak with authority. There was 

 one thing clear one could sometimes get warm in the arctic, 

 but never get cool on the (African) coast." * 



Mr. Clements Markham also thinks that on the whole, 

 these high latitudes are among the healthiest regions 

 in the world. 



" I will quote (he says) the evidence of one of the most 

 distinguished medical officers who has served in the arc- 

 tic regions, to prove that of all the seas visited by 

 men of war, the arctic have proved the most healthy. 



* The Shores of the Polar Sea, illustrated folio, by Dr. Edward L. 

 Moss, M.D., 1878, p. 47. 



