18 July, Aesir Summer Camp

Attempted today to obtain baseline respiratory measurements from six adult Aesir herders. The procedure is simple: the subject breathes normally through a calibrated spirometric tube while seated at rest, and I have conducted it hundreds of times.

The first subject performed perfectly. The second laughed into the apparatus, and the third laughed because the second had laughed. The fourth, who had not yet even been fitted with the mouthpiece, began laughing in anticipation. At this point I made the tactical error of becoming annoyed, which apparently improved matters tremendously.

The cause, I eventually learned, was that the spirometer made a low wheezing noise during exhalation which the Aesir considered remarkably similar to the mating call of a young male mammoth. This had not occurred to me because I had never heard the mating call of a young male mammoth. They had, repeatedly, and I was informed that my instrument sounded “hopeful.”

I completed only two usable measurements that afternoon. On the following day I wrapped the resonating section of the apparatus in wool, after which the measurements proceeded without difficulty. One of the herders appeared disappointed.