A note on Hill Fever.

A few years back I was trawling round the second hand bookshops of Edinburgh looking for Artists anatomy books. I happened to glance in the medical section and came across this reference to Hill Fever. The book was too specialised and expensive for me to buy but the bookseller very kindly photocopied the relevant part. Here it is.

 

HILL FEVER

 

"Hill fever is a chronic condition which once contracted can lie dormant for many years. The symptoms range in severity from the frequently fatal 'Extreme Mountaineering' to the less life threatening but deeply pernicious 'Munro Bagging', named after the earliest recognised Scottish sufferer.

The psychological symptoms are just as pronounced as the excessive physical activity. The sufferer loses the use of the reasoning faculty and the more frequently they expose themselves to danger and hardship the  wilder their delusion that they are 'having fun'.

There is, as yet, no antidote. Research suggests that marriage and its attendant procreation at least delay the recurrence of Hill Fever, but is never a cure."

 

Quoted from

Grays Dictionary of Hyperborean Disease.

 



Sufferer of hill fever showing classic symptoms. Illustration from Grays Dictionary of
Hyperborean Disease