The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-10-17
si@1UN N

It is dinlcult to put limits to the power of physica1 endurance possessed by the human body. Tn circumstances that might we'll be expected to prove fatal men have survived. and some times with wonderfully little, impair- ment of health and that only of | temporary nature. None of the lower animals can approach man in the adaptabiiity which he thus exhibits to various and changing conditions. To- day there Is much talk of polar ex- plorations and tomorrow the traveller who most focuses public attention will perchance have escaped from equatorial furnaces. Man has braved alike the hottest parts of the tropics and the extremest cold of either pole, he has traversed the arid deserts and the malarious swamps He has sur vived deprivation of food to . point which is absolutely surprising-for weeks if he has been able to obtain water. and even If deprived of water also his life has lasted for many days.
 The limits of such endurance are influenced by the measure of passi- witty. The most striking results have been obtained when no exertion has been needed for the preservation of life. as in the case of those who have eul0IQQGQ III mtHCS QE un0th atai anches, but there are wonderful fn- stances where life has been preserved in spite of extreme scarity of food and water while all the time great physical exertions have been necessar- fly made. The voluntary sufferings of the anchorites in the earlier .centur- fes of the Christian era excite our surprise not only because of the fana- ticism which dictated the sacrifice but even more because of the power of endurance which enabled the holy man to survive his miseries.
 Simeon Stylites. who for more than thirty years of the fifth century lived on the summit of a stone column sixty feet high, just not starving himself exposed day and night. sum mer and winter, to the inclemenctes of the seasons, is the best known among hundreds of such selftorturers, while he had many imitators. and a form of rivalry existed in the de- vising of unpleasant modes of dispens- ing with the ordinary comforts of life and adding to the discomforts.
 The practice has died out for the most part from Christian Church. but in India even at the present day may be seen examples of the self-infiiction of tortures for the purpose of acquir- ing merit, though 1t must be explain ed that the pain really felt by the fakir is probably not always so great as 1t appears. This indeed is the case with all spontaneous martyrs. The sufferings, great though they may De- are voluntary, and at any moment the victim. If he may so be called, can return to the usual conditions. and pain is always more easily borne when the sufferer can put an end to 1t when he pleases.
 Tn many cases, however, the powers of physical endurance are exhibited in circumstances where it is entirely be- yond the power of those who suffer to bring them to an end. The annals of the sea contain innumerable in- stances where the survivors of wrecks have fioated about for many days and even weeks exposed to tropical sun and to the violence of storms, provio- ed with only small quantities of food and water, rejoicing at being able 10 feast on a few barnacles found on floating timber or at catching a few drops of water from passing shower.
 Explorers. too, often undergo fright suI exertions In making their way Into the unknown parts of the earth. where they are exposed to conditions of ihes which 1t would be thought impossiole terrior of Australia contain many in- to want of food or water. The re- cords of the exploration of the in- Serior of Austsarlia contain many fn- stances of extreme privation, none perhaps more striking than the we'll known expedition of Burke and Wills. although here both of the explorers died from staravation. Africa, too, has had it's quota of brave explorers who suffered countless hardships In making their way through unknown lands. and of these Mungo Park de- serves to be especially named:
 Of all parts of the world. however the polar regions are pre-eminentiy trying. Those who endeavor to pene- trate the arctic soiitudes find the cond
 tions more unfavorable to life than in any other region. and 1t is hard to im- agine a greater test of the endurance of the human body than prolonged stay in these high lattudes. Not only are all the comforts of civiiiza- tion wanting. but many of those things which are properly looked upon as necessities. Chief among these IS warmth, for unless the body main tafns its temperature all vital pro- cesses are impossible. For keeping the necessary temperature fire and the