Abstract
Alexander M. Kellas (1868–1921) was a British physiologist who made pioneering contributions to the exploration of Everest and to the early physiology of extreme altitudes, but his physiological contributions have been almost completely overlooked. Although he had a full-time faculty position at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School in London, he was able to make eight expeditions to the Himalayas in the first two decades of the century, and by 1919 when the first official expedition to Everest was being planned, he probably knew more about the approaches than anybody else. But his most interesting contributions were made in an unpublished manuscript written in 1920 and entitled “A consideration of the possibility of ascending Mount Everest.” In this he discussed the physiology of acclimatization and most of the important variables including the summit altitude and barometric pressure, and the alveolar Po2, arterial oxygen saturation, maximal oxygen consumption, and maximal ascent rate near the summit. On the basis of this extensive analysis, he concluded that “Mount Everest could be ascended by a man of excellent physical and mental constitution in first-rate training, without adventitious aids [supplementary oxygen] if the physical difficulties of the mountain are not too great.” Kellas was one of the first physiologists to study extreme altitude, and he deserves to be better known.
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Notes
- 1.
Archives of the Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR, UK; Kellas file.
- 2.
The last, Henry R. Kellas, died after this manuscript was completed.
- 3.
Mary Elsie Kellas, daughter of James N. F. Kellas, wrote a family history that was never published but contains useful information about the family.
- 4.
Kellas wrote an 18-typewritten page account of this adventure, which is still extant. Actually, the 3-day trek took place in August 1885, so Kellas was just 17 year old at the time.
- 5.
Letter from Kellas to Hinks, September 29, 1917: “When my assistant comes back at the end of the war, there should be a possibility of getting leave of absence provided they [medical school] rescind a minute of the School Council, which I believe prevents me from asking for extra leave. If they do not, their attitude to my Himalayan aspirations has been so unsympathetic, that I would be forced to look for another post if I wished to do more work in connection with high altitudes…. A scientific man is not necessarily merely a scientific factotum.” Royal Geographical Society Archives; Kellas file.
- 6.
Unpublished manuscript. “A consideration of the possibility of ascending Mount Everest.” Royal Geographical Society Archives; Kellas file.
- 7.
Letter to A. R. Hinks dated October 9, 1917: “At present I am reading Anatomy and Physiology in my very limited spare time, and might manage with hard work to take a medical degree in 3 years or thereby.” Royal Geographical Society Archives; Kellas file.
- 8.
The two manuscripts are very similar though not identical; the one in the archives of the Alpine Club appears to be a slightly later version with more notes and corrections.
- 9.
Whether Kellas actually attended the meeting is unclear. His name is not included in the list of “adherents present au congres” or acknowledged in the opening or closing sessions. The dates of the congress were May 1–10, 1920. Hinks stated in a letter1 to Morshead of May 3, 1920: “he [Kellas] sailed from Liverpool on 30 April,” and Kellas wrote to Hinks1 on July 12: “On arrival in Darjeeling in the end of May I at once started for Jongri and Alukthang.” It is conceivable that Kellas left the boat in a Mediterranean port, e.g., Marseilles and presented the paper at the end of the congress (it is the last paper listed in the proceedings). It is also possible that someone else presented his paper, but there seems to have been no one at the congress who knew Kellas well and who would have been interested in giving such a technical paper. The published article contains many typographical errors suggesting that Kellas never saw the proofs.
- 10.
Kellas subsequently revised his ideas on the best route in a letter to Hinks dated January 26, 1921. He wrote: “So far as my knowledge of the mountain goes, the SE arete may probably be the best route, but the NE arete seems practicable, although of extraordinary length.1 In any event, the SE ridge was the one selected for the first successful ascent in 1953 and again for the first ‘oxygenless’ ascent in 1978.”
- 11.
Messner and Habeler’s ascent seems to bear out Kellas’eprediction. However, in fairness it should be added that 25,500 ft was actually much too low for the final camp in the early days of climbing Everest. J. N. Collie, president of the Alpine Club, stated this when he first saw in 1920. Many modern climbers believe that one reason for the failures of the expeditions of the 1920’s and 1930’s to reach the summit was that too much climbing was left to the last day. When John Hunt planned the successful first ascent in 1953, he was adamant that the last camp should be well about the South Col, and in fact it was located at 27,900 ft.
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Acknowledgements
I am indebted to Christine Kelly, archivist, and other members of the staff of the library of the Royal Geographical Society and also to the library of the Alpine Club, Senate House Library of London University, and the British Library, British Museum. Assistance is also acknowledged from the staff of the Biomedical Library, University of California, San Diego.
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B. West, J. (2015). Alexander M. Kellas and the Physiological Challenge of Mt. Everest. In: Essays on the History of Respiratory Physiology. Perspectives in Physiology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2362-5_17
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