The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1917-11-01
AVIATION ILLNESS,
Peculiar Distress That Comes to
Many Aerial Navigators.
FLIERs SHOULD BE ROBUST.
They Should Also Be Young, Resoluts
and Cool Headed, With Sight and
Hearing and Nervous and Vascular
Systems Perfectly Sound.

, and Cool Headed, With Sight and
: Hearing and Nervous and Vascular
Systems Perfectly Sound.
Those who are up into the air in dy.
ing machines as well as those who 20
down to the sea In ships are troubled
by peculiar and unpleasant physiolog-
ical disturbances which may at. times
be Of grave moment This is especial.
~ true of aeroplane pilots or passen.
gers and to less degree Of those who
ascend in balloons or dirigibles. The
tremendous. importance of aviation in
war lends this subject peculiar inter.
est, and Larousse Nensuel (Paris) de-
votes special article to the topic. The
author. DR. Laumonier, states that the
symptoms vary according to the period
Of ascent. of descent and Of landing.
In ascending an acceleration Of the
respiration and pulse are frequently
noted at from 1000 to 1.5OO meters oil.
titude. accompanied by slight head.
ache located in forehead and temples
and by indefinable discomfort without
vomiting or nausea. At 1900 meters
there Is a diminution IN the keenness
Of hearing: ut times there are halluci.
nations and finally an "asthenic" con.
ditiOn which prevents the muscles from
obeying the will with adequate rapid
ity.
On descending the palpitations OF
the heart become violent and are &C.
companied by sensation of anguish.
the headache Is intense, the aviator
has an increasing sensation of heat of
the skin. especially of the face, and
desire to sleep. which Is sometimes SO
strong that the eyes involuntarily close
as he approaches the earth. In spite Of
imminent peril.
Strange to say. on landing these trou.
bles are augmented. Besides the head
ache and the somn0!ence, hypcremia OF
the conjunctive (conjunctives, is OBJ
served, with cyanosis OF the extremi-
ties. ncceleration of the pulse and con.
slant increase Of arterial pressure. The
aviator often falls asleep as soon as he
lands. and this sleep is troubled and
nonrefreshing. while the headache may
persist for many hours or even severnl
days.
The ascent symptoms recall those OF
mountain sickness" but are produced
ut a less altitude, because Of the nerv.
Gus tension. the cold and above all the
relative rapidity OF ascension. But
what distinguishes aviators' sickness
from mountain sickness IS that the
symptoms persist during descent and
are aggravated after landing. There
are besides vasomotor reactions with
apprehension which are peculiar to
this malady and give 1t. according to
Cruchet and Moulinicr. sort Of noso.
graphic autonomy. However. these
troubles are not felt with the same in
tensity by oil aviators. Some find they
diminish with experience. as III the
case Of sensickness. It appears to be
true that their intensity depends prin-
cipally on the rapidity Of the descent
The causes to which are ascribed
these symptoms include cold and phys
ical. nervous and moral fatigue. While
cold may provoke the imperious need
Of sleep. II cannot lie the sole cause,
since the somnolence Increases on de
scending into warmer air and after
landing Analogous objections are
made to fatigue as cause.
The most important Of the determin.
ing causes. according TO the authorities
quoted above, Is speed, not horizontal,
but vertical speed. which causes rapid
decomposition and recompression In
ascending and descending. At Pau
Legagneux ascendcd to 400 meters
In twenty-eight minutes, whereas It
would have taken an Alpinist eleven
hours to ascend the same distance on
foot. At varenne-sur-Allier Vcdrines
descended In three minutes from q
height Of 5000 meters. The difference
Of gaseous tension Is too great for the
organism to regain It's equilibrium in
- short time
Eince these symptoms are not morbid
they disappear naturally IN few hours
or at most few days. their cessation
being favored by rest. sleep and moder.
ate warmth. Nevertheless they are Of
grave importance because Of the dan
gers to which they expose aviators.
Hence 1t is highly advisable that
J 6Iers should be young. robust. resolute