IN A PARTIAL VACUUM.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 147, 22 June 1923, Page 5

IN A PARTIAL VACUUM.

AIRMEN'S CURIOUS TEST. i EQUAL TO HEIGHT Or 27,888 ft. f j I PARIS, June 21. 1 Three well-known airmen underwent . a curious experience to test the effects . of rarctied air, such as is met with when t climbing Everest and other high moun--1 tains. They submitted fo be enclosed in , a cylinder, 15 x 9 feet, while the air in > ■ the cylinder was gradually rarefied. I ■ Doctors watched effects upon the inmates through windows in the cylinder j , until conditions were equivalent to an \ altitude of 27.858 feet. The airmen were j dressed in skins like eskimos. When the I indicator registered 15,000 feet their ; ' noses became red, and they stamped their , ] feet to get warmth. The doctors judged .' that it was not desirable to allow the .j airmen to remain in the cylinder after , ! conditions equivalent to 27,558 feet had j been reached, as earlier experiments showed that men lost consciousness at a j height of 26,000 feet. The test occupied a; 35 minutes.— (A. and N.Z. Cable.)