NO. I 
NATIVES OF KHARGA OASIS HRDLICKA 
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. 
KHAEGA OASIS, MEN: PULSE (PER MINUTE) 1 
Number of observations : 94. 
Average: 76. (ist series of 46: 77.5; 2d series of 48: 74.5.) 
Median : 75. Mode : 72, 
Minimum : 54. Maximum : 705. 
Table of frequencies : 
J 
$ 
^ 
$ 
5 
R 

f 
5 
I 
4 
5 
vS 

R 
8 
& 
10 
00 
a 
g 
5 
~ 
Number of cases.. .. 
i 
8 
8 
29 
21 
14 
2 
8 
I 
I 
I 
Per cent . . . . 
1 i 
8 5 
8 5 
30 8 
22 3 
14 9 
<?.J 
8.5 
7 7 
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." 
