Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine [280]
walk 1000 miles in one thousand consecutive hours, and gained his bet with some hours to spare. In 1834 Ernest Mensen astonished all Europe by his pedestrian exploits. He was a Norwegian sailor, who wagered that he could walk from Paris to Moscow in fifteen days. On June 25, 1834, at ten o'clock A.M., he entered the Kremlin, after having traversed 2500 kilometers (1550 miles) in fourteen days and eighteen hours. His performances all over Europe were so marvelous as to be almost incredible. In 1836, in the service of the East India Company, he was dispatched from Calcutta to Constantinople, across Central Asia. He traversed the distance in fifty-nine days, accomplishing 9000 kilometers (5580 miles) in one-third less time than the most rapid caravan. He died while attempting to discover the source of the Nile, having reached the village of Syang.
A most marvelous feat of endurance is recorded in England in the first part of this century. It is said that on a wager Sir Andrew Leith Hay and Lord Kennedy walked two days and a night under pouring rain, over the Grampian range of mountains, wading all one day in a bog. The distance traversed was from a village called Banchory on the river Dee to Inverness. This feat was accomplished without any previous preparation, both men starting shortly after the time of the wager.
Riders.--The feats of endurance accomplished by the couriers who ride great distances with many changes of horses are noteworthy. According to a contemporary medical journal there is, in the Friend of India, an account of the Thibetan couriers who ride for three weeks with intervals of only half an hour to eat and change horses. It is the duty of the officials at the Dak bungalows to see that the courier makes no delay, and even if dying he is tied to his horse and sent to the next station. The celebrated English huntsman, "Squire" Osbaldistone, on a wager rode 200 miles in seven hours ten minutes and four seconds. He used 28 horses; and as one hour twenty-two minutes and fifty-six seconds were allowed for stoppages, the whole time, changes and all, occupied in accomplishing this wonderful feat was eight hours and forty-two minutes. The race was ridden at the Newmarket Houghton Meeting over a four-mile course. It is said that a Captain Horne of the Madras Horse Artillery rode 200 miles on Arab horses in less than ten hours along the road between Madras and Bangalore. When we consider the slower speed of the Arab horses and the roads and climate of India, this performance equals the 200 miles in the shorter time about an English race track and on thoroughbreds. It is said that this wonderful horseman lost his life in riding a horse named "Jumping Jenny" 100 miles a day for eight days. The heat was excessive, and although the horse was none the worse for the performance, the Captain died from the exposure he encountered. There is a record of a Mr. Bacon of the Bombay Civil Service, who rode one camel from Bombay to Allygur (perhaps 800 miles) in eight days.
As regards the physiology of the runners and walkers, it is quite interesting to follow the effects of training on the respiration, whereby in a measure is explained the ability of these persons to maintain their respiratory function, although excessively exercising. A curious discussion, persisted in since antiquity, is as to the supposed influence of the spleen on the ability of couriers. For ages runners have believed that the spleen was a hindrance to their vocation, and that its reduction was followed by greater agility on the course. With some, this opinion is perpetuated to the present day. In France there is a proverb, "Courir comme un derate." To reduce the size of the spleen, the Greek athletes used certain beverages, the composition of which was not generally known; the Romans had a similar belief and habit Pliny speaks of a plant called equisetum, a decoction of which taken for three days after a fast of twenty-four hours would effect absorption of the spleen. The modern pharmacopeia does not possess any substance having a similar virtue, although
A most marvelous feat of endurance is recorded in England in the first part of this century. It is said that on a wager Sir Andrew Leith Hay and Lord Kennedy walked two days and a night under pouring rain, over the Grampian range of mountains, wading all one day in a bog. The distance traversed was from a village called Banchory on the river Dee to Inverness. This feat was accomplished without any previous preparation, both men starting shortly after the time of the wager.
Riders.--The feats of endurance accomplished by the couriers who ride great distances with many changes of horses are noteworthy. According to a contemporary medical journal there is, in the Friend of India, an account of the Thibetan couriers who ride for three weeks with intervals of only half an hour to eat and change horses. It is the duty of the officials at the Dak bungalows to see that the courier makes no delay, and even if dying he is tied to his horse and sent to the next station. The celebrated English huntsman, "Squire" Osbaldistone, on a wager rode 200 miles in seven hours ten minutes and four seconds. He used 28 horses; and as one hour twenty-two minutes and fifty-six seconds were allowed for stoppages, the whole time, changes and all, occupied in accomplishing this wonderful feat was eight hours and forty-two minutes. The race was ridden at the Newmarket Houghton Meeting over a four-mile course. It is said that a Captain Horne of the Madras Horse Artillery rode 200 miles on Arab horses in less than ten hours along the road between Madras and Bangalore. When we consider the slower speed of the Arab horses and the roads and climate of India, this performance equals the 200 miles in the shorter time about an English race track and on thoroughbreds. It is said that this wonderful horseman lost his life in riding a horse named "Jumping Jenny" 100 miles a day for eight days. The heat was excessive, and although the horse was none the worse for the performance, the Captain died from the exposure he encountered. There is a record of a Mr. Bacon of the Bombay Civil Service, who rode one camel from Bombay to Allygur (perhaps 800 miles) in eight days.
As regards the physiology of the runners and walkers, it is quite interesting to follow the effects of training on the respiration, whereby in a measure is explained the ability of these persons to maintain their respiratory function, although excessively exercising. A curious discussion, persisted in since antiquity, is as to the supposed influence of the spleen on the ability of couriers. For ages runners have believed that the spleen was a hindrance to their vocation, and that its reduction was followed by greater agility on the course. With some, this opinion is perpetuated to the present day. In France there is a proverb, "Courir comme un derate." To reduce the size of the spleen, the Greek athletes used certain beverages, the composition of which was not generally known; the Romans had a similar belief and habit Pliny speaks of a plant called equisetum, a decoction of which taken for three days after a fast of twenty-four hours would effect absorption of the spleen. The modern pharmacopeia does not possess any substance having a similar virtue, although