Abstract
“UP to this time most of the loftiest portions of the earth are totally unexplored, and this arises principally from the fact that the mountaineer, in addition to experiencing all of the troubles which occur to other travellers, has to deal with some which are peculiar to his work. I do not now refer to the ‘distressing hæmorrhages,’ ‘alarming vomitings,’ and ‘painful excoriations which are said to afflict him. Hæmorrhage and excoriation are rather large words, and they are apt to be alarming if they are not translated. But they do not seem so very formidable if they are rendered ‘bleeding at the nose’ and ‘loss of skin through sunburn’; and it may perhaps tend still further to allay alarm if I say that I have never known bleeding at the nose to occur upon a mountain except to those who were subject to the complaint; while with regard to vomitings, although such unpleasant occurrences do happen, they have only been known when persons have taken that which has disagreed with them.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
On the Practicability of Living at Great Elevations above the Level of the Sea 1 . Nature 23, 459–461 (1881). https://doi.org/10.1038/023459c0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/023459c0