NA TURE 



289 



THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 1899. 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF MAN AT HIGH 

 ALTITUDES. 



Life of Mint on the High Alps. By Angelo Mosso. 



Translated from the Second Edition of the Italian by 



E. Lough Kiesow. I'p. xv + 342. (London : T. Fisher 



Unwin, 1898.) 

 The Annals of Moiif nianc. By Charles Edward 



Mathews. I'p. xxiv + 368. (London : T. Fisher 



Unwin, i8g8.) 



THE modifications which are produced in the orf,'anisni 

 by residence at great heights differ in many respects 

 from those witnessed in laboratory experiments where 

 men or animals are subjected to diminished pressures 

 in a pneumatic chamber. For this reason the observ- 

 atories and huts on Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa have 

 during the last invi years afforded a shelter to several 

 physiologists, and the results of a most extensive series 

 of researches which were carried out in the Regina 

 Margherita hut on Monte Rosa, at a height of 14,592 feet, 

 are to be found in the " Fisiologia dell 'uomo suUe Al|)i,'' 

 by Prof. Angelo Mosso of Turin. This volume stands 

 alone in scientific Alpine literature. It is the first attempt 

 that has been made to present the various complex 

 physiological phenomena which man exhibits at high 

 altitudes, in such a form as to be easily understood by 

 those who are not trained physiologists. Whether this 

 attempt has been entirely successful is a matter of some 

 doubt. It is a much better book than that of D. Jourdanet, 

 on the " Influence dc la pression de I'air sur la vie de 

 I'homme," a huge volume of over 600 pages, which treats 

 of the same subject. 



The book is well translated, and it is seen that Prof 

 Mosso has carried out his researches with special physio, 

 logical apparatus, some of which was designed for the 

 particular study of man at high altitudes. The book 

 contains some excellent tracings, which record the pulse 

 and heart-movements. Records of the cerebral pulse 

 taken with Marey's tambour, and of the blood-pressure 

 in the limbs obtained with the plethysmograph are also 

 given. Using Bianchi's phonendoscope. Prof. Mosso ob- 

 tains some figures which are rather alarming to look at, 

 showing that there is a normal physiological dilatation of 

 the heart during a mountain ascent ; after exercise the 

 left side of the organ is enlarged, and in one figure the 

 apex is displaced downwards, in the other the displace- 

 ment is upwards. Many tracings were taken of the 

 respiratory movements, and one of the most interesting 

 is a record of the onset and culmination of a fainting fit. 

 Phasic respiration or Cheync-Stokcs breathing is common 

 at great heights, and especially well seen during sleep ; 

 complete cessation of movement for as long as twelve 

 seconds separated the respiratory phases in the case of 

 U. Mosso. The respiratory organs also tend to pause at 

 the end of expiration. It is a well-recognised fact that 

 the stature diminishes during the day, but a mountain 

 ascent may produce such a flattening of the lumbar curve 

 that a man may be an inch and a half shorter when he 

 NO. 1526, VOL. 59] 



reaches the summit of Monte Rosa than he was in the 

 plains. 



Enough has been said to show that this book is of 

 great interest, and since it is possible that the great 

 authority of Prof Mosso, who is well known in this 

 country as a distinguished physiologist, may cause this 

 volume to be regarded as the standard work on the 

 physiology of man at great altitudes, it is necessary to 

 point out some of the very unexpected facts which are 

 stated, and remarkable theories which are advanced by 

 Prof Mosso, although the very discursive way in which 

 the whole book is written makes this a matter of some 

 difficulty. This volume is really neither a popular nor a 

 scientific study of the phenomena of life at high levels. 

 It is partly the one and partly the other. It is impossible 

 from the information which is gi\en to judge of the cor- 

 rectness of several of Prof Mosso's views ; and with a 

 full knowledge of the exceedingly laborious work which 

 was carried on for some weeks in the uncomfortable sur- 

 roundings of an Alpine htit, it is a matter of regret to 

 have to say that some of the results carry but little con- 

 viction to the mind of a physiologist, while those who 

 are not in a position to weigh the evidence that is given, 

 may make the mistake of imagining that many questions 

 of great difficulty and complexity have been finally 

 answered. 



At an altitude of 14,800 feet. Prof Mosso states that 

 much more work can be accomplished than at the sea- 

 level, and also that there is no increase in the frequency 

 of respiratory movement ; indeed, both the frequency 

 and amplitude may be diminished, or with a frequency 

 exactly like the normal the amplitude may be less. This 

 phenomenon is certainly unexpected, and so is the 

 remarkable statement that on the summit of Monte 

 Rosa the rate of breathing was not always altered 

 even by fatiguing muscular work. Mosso has shown 

 that on the plains there is a luxus-respiration, the 

 organism takes in a quantity of oxygen which is more 

 than sufficient for its immediate needs ; at a great height 

 the breathing is not augmented, since though less oxygen 

 is actually consumed it is enough, but not more than 

 enough, for the needs of the organism. It has, however, 

 been proved by actual experiments on mountains that 

 when a height of only 8900 feet is reached, even at rest 

 there is a slight increase in the gas exchanges and 

 in the rate of breathing ; while at 14,800 feet there is a 

 great increase in both of these, indicating that whatever 

 may be the cause there is a marked rise of metabolism 

 at a diminished pressure of 425 mm. Prof Mosso refers 

 to these experiments, which were made by the brothers 

 Loewy and Leo Zuntz, but they do not, of course, support 

 his views on mountain-sickness. On p. 192 mention is 

 made of the observations of Benedicenti on combustion 

 in rarefied air. Prof Mosso regards these "as intimately 

 connected with the study of respiration in the Alps be- 

 cause, since the celebrated experiments of Lavoisier, it 

 is a well-known fact that breathing in many respects 

 resembles combustion." This analogy is entirely mis- 

 leading, for the whole process of respiration, either 

 internal or external, is exactly the reverse of combustion. 

 The consumption of oxygen by an organism is wel 

 known to be dependent not on the amount of this gas 



O 



