Note on the composition of alveolar air at extreme heights

Abstract

DURING the Everest expedition of 1924 I made observations on the composition of alveolar air of several members of the party at three different heights above sea-level. The samples of air were collected in football bladders. In collecting a sample the subject first breathed out, held his breath for two seconds whilst putting the bladder to his lips, then expired as strongly as possible into it. This was done in exactly the same way in every case. It was not practicable to analyse at once the samples collected above the level of the base camp, on account of the freezing of the solution and other conditions. These, then, were taken to the base camp and analysed there; it will be seen from the analysis and considerations given below that there was no appreciable diffusion of gases through the wall of the bladder. I was unable to procure a Haldane apparatus in Calcutta, but by the kindness of Major Shorten, I.M.S. and his staff at the Calcutta Medical College, I managed to put together a similar apparatus of 150 c.c. capacity which gave consistent results in control experiments.The air was collected by asking a man to breathe out, stop two seconds while putting the football bladder to his lips and gasp out into that. This was done in exactly the same way in every case in order that all results of analysis might be as far as possible comparable. Analysis was effected in the usual way by strong caustic soda for the CO2, followed by the mixture of pyrogallic acid, exactly as in a Haldane apparatus, except that a longer time was allowed for the absorption of the oxygen. In each case a little water was left above the mercury. The gas burette was kept at an even temperature by the constant pouring of water at a fixed temperature over it. At the Base Camp this was easily managed owing to the presence of a spring.

Blood volume and haemoglobin concentration at altitudes above 18,000 ft. (5500 m)

“…For example, Luft (1941) reported a mean value of 24 g/100 ml. on four subjects, while Somervell (1925) and Brendel (1956) noted falls in haemoglobin. The Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering expedition of 1960/61 made a further contribution to the subject by measuring blood volume and haemotocrit changes as well as haemoglobin.…”

A case of deficient acclimatization to low oxygen pressure

“…below those accepted for acclimatized persons. The C02 pressures observed at the highest recorded altitudes [Somervell, 1925] Observations 1 and 6 in Table III are quite normal for a subject at rest of M a t t h e ws's physical development. Observations 2 and 3 show an increase in total ventilationas associated with a normal total metabolism.…”

“…below those accepted for acclimatized persons. The C02 pressures observed at the highest recorded altitudes [Somervell, 1925] carry less conviction than the oxygen pressures.…”

Blood, race and indigenous peoples in twentieth century extreme physiology

“…In a short article in the Journal of Physiology he reported on measurements of oxygen and carbon dioxide in samples taken from the Everest team, but the most original finding of his study is mentioned only in the very last line of the article: The colour indices of two Tibetans, taken at 16,500 feet, at which height most of their lives had been spent, were 92 and 82; remarkably low figures for men who can race up steep slopes about twice as fast as we could with our colour indices of 120. (Somervell 1925 , p. 285) The ‘colour indices’ mentioned here are a way of measuring haematocrits—roughly speaking the darker the blood, the higher the colour index, and the higher the concentration of red blood cells/level of polycythaemia. Somervell had found that polycythaemia is not a universal human response to altitude.…”