Life of Man on the High Alps Classic Reprint

Excerpt from Life of Man on the High Alps

On the intimation Of the acquiescence of the Ministry I went to Ivrea where the Alpine regiment was stationed. My errand being made known, a number of soldiers immediately Offered to join the expedition to the glaciers of Monte Rosa. I shall Often have occasion to mention by name those who accompanied me; I take, however, this early opportunity of remarking that their behaviour and discipline were worthy of all praise, and of giving expression to my feelings of admiration for the sterling qualities Of these humble comrades of mine, to whom likewise my heartiest thanks are due.

The first month, from the roth Of June to the r1th Of July, 1894, was devoted to preliminary researches with the object of ascertaining the physio logical conditions of the soldiers. As it was necessary to know what was their power Of resistance to fatigue at ordinary elevations, I let them march with arms and baggage from Ivrea to Turin, a distance of 60 kilometres. I had purposely chosen some soldiers who were very strong and others of average strength: these I divided into two squads. I started with one squad and made the ascent at a slow rate Of progress, about metres per week. The other division climbed up to the summit of Monte Rosa rapidly, em ploying only three days, the rest being by that time installed in the Regina Margherita Hut, awaiting their arrival. This arrangement was made with the intent of discovering the effect of slow and rapid changes of altitude on the organism.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.