November 7, 1890.] 



SCIENCE. 



261 



vast range of thesp measurements, whose extremes vary to an ex- 

 tent of upwards of 1,900 feet, or to one-tenth of the height of the 

 entire mountain, except on the assumption that the angles of 

 measurement were too small to permit of exactitude in the result. 

 And, indeed. Mi". Dall himself rejects all his measurements except 

 those made from Port Mulgrave, giving them " no weight in the 

 result, As they were all taken at great distances from the peak, 

 and subject to various disturbing influences and uncertainty in 

 most of the positions" (p. 164). And yet it iS upon tlie accurate 

 determination of the position "At Sea," 127 miles distant, that 

 " the position of Mount St. Elias depends" (p. 165); and neces- 

 sarily upon the determination of this position must also depend 

 the accuracy of the measurement of height. Malespina's measure- 

 ment was made from a point apparently vei-y close to that occu- 

 pied hy the Coast Survey officers, and his results, as has already 

 been seen, vary negatively by 1,600 feet; but he estimated the 

 distance sei>aratmg him from the mountain at 55.1 nautical miles. 

 ]\Ir. Dall i-emarks, in relation to the discrepancy existing between 

 the two measurements, that the doubt lies wholly with the dis- 

 tance. But this does not explain the great range in Mr. DalFs 

 own results. And we are perhaps led to he the more suspicious 

 regarding the value of these when we take into account the dis- 

 crepancies which appear in the determination of the altitude of 

 Mount Fairweather. Three series of sextant observations were 

 made of this mountain from the region about Lituya Bay and Cape 

 Spencer, with the result of obtaining an average value of 15,447 

 feet. Vertical circle measurements of the same mountain made 

 from Port Mulgrave indicate 15,270 feet, while the average of all 

 measurements is 15,423 feet. Mr. Dall calls attention to the close 

 correspondence of these results, and comments more particularly 

 upon the " unanimity in the Lituya Bay observations." ' A refer- 

 ence to the exact results obtained, without recourse to the delusive 

 system of extracting averages, shows, however, that in place of 

 unanimity Ave have the reverse. Thus, the sextant observations 

 taken from ' ' Off Cape Spencer " indicate 16,009 feet ; those from 

 "Off Lituya Bay," 15,247 feet; and those from "Off Lituya," 15,- 

 085 feet (op cit. p. 174), — a difference in extremes of upward of 

 900 feet. This divergence in the measurement of a mountain three 

 miles ( + ) in height from positions twenty to fifty miles dis- 

 tant makes very doubtful the results obtained in the case of St. 

 Elias, where the distances were still very much greater, and the 

 angles of observation correspondingly smaller. 



In view of the broad divergence existing in these later measure- 

 ments, and the fact that all earlier determinations give less than 

 18,000 feet for the height of Mount St. Elias, geographers will 

 probablv consider tlie question of absolute height as still an open 

 one. That the mountain closely approximates the giants of the 

 Mexican plateau is almost certain; but it seems equally probable 

 that its true position is after, and not before, the peak of Orizaba. 



Anqelo Heilpein. 



THINNESS VERSUS STOUTNESS. 



The following facts on the value of emaciation, from the Lancet 

 of Sept. 27, are of interest. Emaciation is a prominent feature in 

 many diseases. Blany of the phenomena of disease are, in reality, 

 efforts at repair. It will therefore be advantageous to inquire if 

 some gooii purpose is not served by emaciation. To begin witli 

 diseases which affect the circulation, in many such we may note 

 that the patient will rapidly lose flesh, and that when the loss has 

 proceeded to a certain degree it is arrested. The patient becomes 

 and continues thin. Not only is it difficult to fa.tten him, but he 

 is not much benefited by the attempt, Sliould his disease be 

 ftrrested, but leave some injury behind, the patient will probably 

 continue tliin. Instinctively, in consequence, we look for the 

 presence of disease, active or quiescent, in sparely developed per- 

 sons ; and practically we look for it in the territory of the circula- 

 tion, either pulmonary or systemic, and generally find something. 

 Such emaciation, ceasing at a certain point, does not much exceed 

 what is seen in athletic training, and may be defined as an invol- 

 untary training, forced upon the patient by his ailment. What, 



' lucludiDg here the measurements made off Cape Spencer. 



briefly, is the benefit of training? Unusual effort in untrained 

 men or animals is checked, not by muscular exhaustion, but by 

 congestion of the pulmonary circulation, and paralysis of the right 

 ventricle of the heart. The effect of training is to enable the 

 pulmonary circulation to keep pace with the increased activity of 

 the systemic. Several changes concur to this end, — dilatation of 

 the lung and of its blood-vessels, hypertrophy of the right side of 

 the heart, and most especially absorption of every tissue which is 

 found to be superfluous for the effort in view. This absorption 

 reduces the area of the systemic circulation; and it is followed by 

 a redaction in the quantity of blood, because a smaller quantity 

 will suffice for active circulation through the lesser area. The 

 individual so trained is in the condition of having a pulmonary 

 teiTitory larger than is necessary for his state of rest, and conse- 

 quently with a greater margin for relief upon exertion. Con- 

 versely, the contrary condition of obesity develops the systemic 

 circulation to the full capacity of the lungs, so that the least ex- 

 ertion will produce dyspnoea. Acute disease being like exertion, 

 we can see the advantage of entering upon it in a state of training. 

 The exhaustion to be feared is that of the heart's I'ight ventricle; 

 and the inconvenience of existing stimulants is, that they do not 

 'stimulate the right ventricle by itself. 



To return to emaciation as produced by disease. Let us first 

 take the case of diseases of the lung. Should the territory of the 

 pulmonary circulation be diminished by sucli a disease as phthisis, 

 it would be impossible for the patient, without emaciation, to 

 have an active circulation in the systemic area without danger of 

 congestion of the lung. The feeble attemi^ts that are made at 

 hypertrophy of the lung in this disease are thus met half vvay. The 

 same thing is true of ail emphysema of the lungs, whether senile 

 or morbid. Then we may consider the disorders of the greater 

 circulation. In disease of the valves, when the muscle has to do 

 the work of the valves, and in decay of the aorta, when the ven- 

 tricle has to combine the aorta's duty with its own, the smaller 

 the volume of blood to be dealt with, the better. Without reduc- 

 tion of the area through which it flows, a reduced amount of 

 blood would only result in a sluggish circulation. Emaciation in 

 such cases is therefore salutary. Moreover, the capillaries are 

 the seat of greatest friction : they are therefore the part to be re- 

 duced. This is the reason why all animals, in a state of nature, 

 grow thin as they pprow^ld. Man, and the creatures under his 

 control, may violate this law, but not with impunity. Acute 

 disease, when the arteries are decayed, is doubly dangerous. The 

 right ventricle of the heart may be exhausted, as before, but now 

 the left ventricle may also prove unequal. Stimulants here can 

 have but little drawback; but in surplus lung, and an amount of 

 blood that is well within the powers of propulsion, lies a greater 

 safety. Obesity is dangerous to the aged. 



It would be well to consider the phenomena of waste in fever 

 by (he light of an assumption that they are salutary. The brute 

 creation, when suffering from fever, eat nothing; yet they do not 

 die, but recover. The body seems destined to feed upon itself, 

 and to delay all repair until convalescence. Great responsibility 

 rests upon those who supersede this instinct by an artificial 

 method. Graves, who fed fevers, at the same time bled his 

 patients. Venesection has Ibis drawback, that to relieve the right 

 heart we are obliged to stint the left, and to reduce the systemic 

 circulation to a sluggish flow. The speedy repau- of such loss of 

 blood shows that its benefit must be only temporary. Such a 

 remedy is an imperfect substitute for a capacious lung. The per- 

 ception of this Inconvenience has led to the disuse of bleeding. 

 The concomitant pressing of food in fevers should probably follow 

 it. The most evident of natural remedies for any kind of fever 

 are starvation and emaciation. However hidulgent appetite may 

 be in health, it returns in disease to the strictest authority. Obe- 

 dience to its dictates may shatter superstitions, but will not 

 jeopardize the cure. In chronic diseases, the physician who thinks 

 of the future of his patient will look grudgingly on fat. It pro- 

 vides for warmth and irregularity of nutrition. If these be pro- 

 vided for in other ways, much relief can be given to the circula- 

 tion; and if in acute disease the presence of a tissue should prove 

 an embarrassment, the ph} sician will not interfere v.ith its re- 

 moval. 



