EFFECT ON LIFE OF BAROMETRIC PRESSURE 213 



"My flannel waistcoat when rubbed in the dark appeared as if 

 it had been washed with phosphorus ; every hair on the dog's 

 back crackled, even the linen sheets, and leathern straps of the 

 saddle, when handled emitted sparks." 



An observer stationed at Pike's Peak Observatory records that 

 the thunderstorms are tremendous; on one occasion "his hair 

 stood erect, crackled, and the pricking sensation to the scalp was 

 extremely painful. The peculiar electrical odour was strongly 

 recognised. To protect his head, he put on his black felt hat 

 and returned to the roof. But a few seconds elapsed before he 

 was fairly lifted off his feet by the electrical fluid piercing through 

 the top of his hat, giving him such a sudden and fiery thrust that 

 he nearly fell from the roof in his excitement. Instantly snatch- 

 ing the hat from his head, he observed a beam of light, as thick 

 as a lead pencil, which seemed to pass through the hat, projecting 

 to about an inch on either side, and which remained visible for 

 several seconds. The top of his hat was at least two inches from 

 his head when this fiery lance pierced him. When ths fluid began 

 to thrust its fiery tongues into other parts of his body, he was 

 spurred to a hasty, but 'brilliant' retreat." "The cups of the 

 anemometer, which were revolving rapidly, appeared as one solid 

 ring of fire from which issued a loud rushing and hissing sound. 

 The observer on placing his hands over the cups did not dis- 

 cover the slightest sensation of heat, but his hands became in- 

 stantly aflame. On raising them and spreading his fingers, each 

 of them became tipped with one or more cones of light, nearly 

 three inches in length." 



The highest dwelling-place continuously occupied is the Ob- 

 servatory El Misti in the Andes, at 5880 m. The Observatory 

 of Arequipa is at 6100 m. Thok djalung is a village in the 

 Himalayas at 4980 m. In Peru, Bolivia, and northern Chile a 

 very large part of the population live above 3000 m. Potosi, 

 which has numbered 100,000 inhabitants, is at 4165 m., Cerro de 

 Pasco at 4350 m., the mines of Villacota at 5042, the railway 

 from Callao to Oroya culminates in a tunnel at 4760 m., almost 

 the height of Mont Blanc. Such works are sufficient evidences of 

 the energy of man at altitudes of 13,000-15,000 ft. An annual fair 

 is held at Gartok at 4598 m. in the Himalayas, to which thousands 

 annually come. Jourdanet says the inhabitants of the high altitudes 

 in America are anaemic and of poor physique : Mosso says the same 



