32 With Feet to the Earth 



tion of his love for it, according to his 

 nature ; and the victory is that of personal- 

 ity and will. One's grossness is ethereal- 

 ized ; he stands nearer to the sun, in a 

 purer air, farther from matter than in his 

 daily life, when from his pinnacle he sees 

 things in their larger aspect True, some 

 men will take a telescope with them to see 

 the hotel where they slept last night, and 

 the village where they will dine to-mor- 

 row ; but with more climbers it is the broad 

 effect, the fine exhilaration, the spiritual- 

 izing experience that they seek. There is 

 a reason for high spirits in high places : 

 the air is purer, there is more oxygen in 

 proportion to the quantity than in the 

 hollows where heavy gases linger, and deep 

 breathing aerates the blood until it spar- 

 kles. Dwellers on lands three thousand 

 feet higher than the sea have no excuse 

 for consumption, and seldom offer any. 

 In light air one breathes more strongly 

 than in heavy ; one has to in order to get 

 enough ; and the lungs are thus opened to 

 their depths, leaving no effete corners for 

 the storage of disease. People at sea-level 



