450 



MEDICINE AND MEDICAL STATISTICS. [Sect. XIY 



employed in the bread-room tind hold, aiid those who are 

 freely exposed on deck, or in open boats, at all hours of 

 the day, cannot escape the notice of the most superficial 

 observer. It is therefore of importance to ascertain ^dic- 



the solar rays be not, to a 2;reater 



T exclr^'ion from 



c"'teiit tlian is generally believed, one reason why those 



wlio have in consequence acquired a pale waxy look 

 from confineiur^nt below, are more susceptible to disea*=e, 

 u.nd le^s capable of sustaining its shocks, than are those 

 whosr^ blocd is enriched and strengthened by the free ex- 

 posure to light, heat, and air, wdiich their different avoca- 



tions ensure. 



The force of these remarks, how^ever, wall 



be best understood by those who have had opportunities 

 of Witnessing the rapid change which takes place in the 

 human constitution by exposure for only a short time to 

 direct rays of a tropical sun. Why, in a state 



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perfect rep* 



o^e, the blood should acq^idre a brighter 

 tinge, and an increased force of circulation, are inquiries, 



tiie value of which the observant physiologist will not fail 



justl} to appreciate, neither will he fail, as often as oppor- 

 tunities occur, to follow up these phenomena, should they 

 terminate in cIiBeasej or unhappily produce death. 



Whether the stationary population at great elevations 

 above 



sea-lcveL differ from those luujitually resident 

 at the sea-]evel in rapidity of pulse and respiration, are 

 questions respecting vvhich there Is stiil but little known. 

 In coru.c-xion with this subject the following are the prin- 

 cipal objects deservins the attention of medical or other 

 travellers, particularly when opportunities occur of vis 





iiig places uf gi-eat altitude :— the number of pulsations 



of the I „,.:+. the number of respirations per minute, and 



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