Page:Polar Exploration - Bruce - 1911.djvu/91

Rh during the process of healing, which progressed favourably, did I experience the smallest pain" (The German Arctic Expedition of 1869–70, by Captain Koldeway, vol. ii, pp. 408 and 410). The darkness of winter is the chief enemy of man, as well as man himself. Provided a man lives a decently disciplined life there is no more healthy place in the world than the Polar Regions. It is the invariable experience of every well-organised polar expedition that the individuals increase in bodily health. Outside accidents, certain forms of heart disease have been about the only cause of death, and in these cases the trouble was probably present in its initial stages before the person joined the expedition, when it was difficult to detect, even by highly-skilled physicians; in such cases the patients probably could not have been saved from death even though they had never gone to the Polar Regions. It was stated, some years ago, that the death-rate of polar expeditions was less than that of the healthiest town in Britain, even including such disasters as the Franklin and Greely expeditions. Now, with better scientific organisation, the average death-rate has in all probability fallen much lower than this estimate.