COLUMBIA LIBRARIES OFFSITE 
 
 HEALTH SCIENCES STANDARD 
 
 QP85 .H75 
 
 I III! Hill II 
 
 .HX641 34725 
 
 Longevity; a paper r 
 
 LONOSVITY 
 
 BY 
 
 HCMA.NS 
 
QPft^ 
 
 t\7S 
 
 Columbia (Hnitoem'tp 
 
 College of ^f^v^idansi anh burgeons; 
 
LOXGEVITY. 
 
 A PAPEE BEAD BEFOEE THE 
 
 Englewood Literary Society, 
 
 BY 
 
 SHEPPARD ROMANS. 
 
 PRESS PRINT, 
 
 ENGLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, 
 
 1891. 
 
^-^ / ..^ 
 
^^e read in the 5th chapter of Genesis: 
 
 V'lr-' «'A.nd all the days that Adam lived 
 were 930 years and he died." Also "Ail the 
 ■days of Seth were 912 years ; and he died." 
 The ages of five other descendants of 
 Adam are then given each of whom lived 
 more than 900 years, and then we come tp 
 Methuseleh the oldest age on record, 
 •"And all the days of Methuseleh were 969 
 years; and he died." 
 
 After the flood the ages recorded of the 
 patriarchs were much less. Abraharoi 
 ■died at the age of 175, Isaac at 180, and 
 Jacob at 147 ; and Sarah, whose age is tfie 
 greatest recorded in the Bible of a female, 
 died at 127. 
 
 In modern times we have the records, 
 more or less authentic, of many persons 
 who have attained extreme old age. Mr. 
 James Easton,of Salisbury, England, pub- 
 lished in 1799 a list containing the names 
 of 1712 persons who had reached the age 
 of 100 years and upwards. In 1826, Mr. 
 Charles Babbage collected 1750 similar 
 cases. Haller cites two cases of extreme 
 age which came under his own observa- 
 tion, one of 152, and the other of 169 years. 
 
 I select the following from a list pre- 
 
pared by the late Cornelius Walford con- 
 taining the names of 208 persons who died 
 at, or above the age of 120 years. Thomas 
 Cam, Shoreditch, England, at the age of 
 207, in 1588. This case is said to be con- 
 firmed by the Parish Registers. If this 
 be true, it is the most remarkable instance 
 of longevity recorded since the flood. 175 
 years, Louisa Truxo, a negress, Brazil, 
 in 1780; 152 years, Thomas Parr, 
 Shropshire, England, in 1635. In the 
 Petershvrrgh Gazette, a Russian paper 
 published in 1812, the case is recorded of a 
 man who died in the diocese of Ekateroios 
 who attained an age between 200 and 205 
 years at death. 
 
 The age of Dr. Parr, as he was called, 
 appears to be well authenticated. It has 
 the testimony of Harvey who dissected 
 his body and found all the organs in a 
 sound and healthful condition. Charles 
 the First, sent for Dr. Parr, who had be- 
 come famous by reason of his extreme 
 age. Dr. Parr went to Court where he 
 was feasted, and eating too much, died 
 from a fit of indigestion. He might have 
 lived many years longer — in fact he may 
 be said to have died from an accident. 
 
 There would then seem to be abundant 
 evidence that, not only among the patri- 
 archs who lived after the flood, but among 
 those who lived in modern times also, in- 
 
•stances are not ^Yanting of deaths ap- 
 proaching the age of 200 years, which 
 would seem to be about the extreme limit 
 possible for man to attain. 
 
 Scientific research has demonstrated 
 some remarkable physiological facts which 
 bear upon the duration of human life. It 
 is demonstrated that Species never 
 change. Their physiological characteris- 
 tics are fixed and unalterable. Man at 
 the present day has precisely the same 
 formation, the same organs, the same 
 type in fact, as may be found in mummies 
 embalmed centuries before the Christian 
 Era. The fossil horse is the same as the 
 living animal. Siberia was once peopled 
 by elephants. These elephants have dis- 
 appeared, but their fossil remains present 
 precisely the same physiological char- 
 acteristics as those of the living elephants. 
 America was once peopled by mastodons. 
 They have disappeared, but they have not 
 left in their places other, or different mas- 
 todons. The type of man, of the horse, of 
 the elephant, and of every other animal 
 living or extinct, has remained unaltered 
 by the revolutions and mutations of tlie 
 Globe. 
 
 Buffon, the celebrated naturalist, first 
 enunciated the theory that the natural 
 life of all animals bears a certain relation 
 to the periods of their growth. This per- 
 
6 
 
 iod is defined by the union of the bones^ 
 with their epiphyses. When this union 
 takes place, the bones, and consequently 
 the animals, cease to grow. M. Flourens,^ 
 accepting this ingenious theory of Buffon,. 
 and having the advantage of later and 
 more correct physiological knowledge, 
 made a series of very interesting experi- 
 m.ents by which to determine the length 
 of time after birth when this union of the 
 bones with the epiphyses takes place in 
 different animals. He then found that 
 the natural limit of life in all animals is 
 about five times the period of growth. 
 
 Thus the union of bones and epithyses 
 and the consequent natural life of differ- 
 ent animals is as follows : 
 Man ^rows 20 years. Natural lift^., 100 years. 
 
 40 
 
 " 25 
 !' " 20 
 
 " 20 
 
 73 
 5 
 
 The man who does not 
 disease lives everywhere 
 to 90 or 100 years of age." Huf eland says : 
 "Nearly all those deaths which take place 
 before the hundreth year are brought on 
 artificially, that is to say, by disease or 
 accident." Dr. Farr in the 16th Annual 
 Eeport of the Kegistrar General of Eng- 
 
 Camel " 
 
 8 
 
 Horse " 
 
 5 
 
 Ox 
 
 4 
 
 Lion " 
 
 4 
 
 Dog 
 
 2 
 
 Cat 
 
 1} 
 
 Hare " 
 
 1 
 
 Buffon states : 
 die of accident or 
 
land says : "The natural term of human 
 life appears to be 100 years." Finally, the 
 prophet Isaiah says, LXV -20 .—"There 
 shall no more thence be an infant of days, 
 nor an old man that hath not filled his 
 days, for the child shall die an hundred 
 years old." 
 
 The extreme limit of life appears to be 
 about twice the natural limit or term. 
 Thus instances have occurred of man liv- 
 ing' to 200 years, or very nearly, and 
 Buffon relates, with much minuteness, 
 the history of a horse that lived 50 years, 
 and died February 24:th, 1774. 
 
 How are we to account for the ages 
 recorded in Genesis, of Adam, his sons, 
 and Methuseleh? We cannot disregard 
 the teachings of science, nor need we 
 doubt the statement in Holy Writ. Each 
 has Divine authority. By what theory 
 can we reconcile the two. Simply that 
 the year, or unit of time among the early 
 patriarchs differed from that adopted 
 since the Deluge, which has been twelve 
 calendar months. Hensler, a high author- 
 ity, shows the strong probability that the 
 year, till the time of Abraham, consisted 
 of three months only, and that not until 
 the time of Joseph was it extended to 
 twelve months. "This assertion" says 
 Hufeland, a still higher authority, "is to 
 a certain degree confirmed by sonae of the 
 
Eastern nations who still reckon only- 
 three months to the year," and besides it 
 would be altogether inexplicable why the 
 life of man should have been shortened 
 three-fourths immediately after the Flood. 
 Moreover the recorded ages when the 
 early patriarchs married was about four 
 times the usual age. Again, with the per- 
 iod of Abraham, we find mention of a du- 
 ration of life which can still be attained, 
 and which no longer appears extraordin- 
 ary, especially when we consider the tem- 
 perate manner in which the patriarchs 
 lived. "We think, therefore, that Huf eland 
 has arrived at a correct conclusion when 
 he says that "man can still attain to the 
 same age as ever." 
 
 By the Census of 1851 there were living 
 in England and Wales 319 persons (111 
 males and 208 females) whose reputed ages 
 ranged from 100 to 119 years. 
 
 At the instance of Mr. James Thorn, a 
 parlimentary commission was appointed 
 to visit each of these alleged centenarians 
 in order to examine the evidences upon 
 which their reputated ages were based, as 
 well as to inquire into the particulars as 
 tO' their habits, modes of life, etc. 
 
 A singular instance of the thoroughness 
 with which Mr. Thom and his commission 
 conducted their inquires was afforded in 
 the case of a Greenwich pensioner who 
 
had served in the Eoyal Navy, and whose 
 age was reputed to be 107 years. This 
 sailor, whose name we will assume to have 
 been John Smith, asserted that he was the 
 son of Mary and Thomas Smith, and that 
 the date of the marriage of his parents, as 
 well as the date of his own birth and 
 christening, could be found in the Parish 
 Kegisters of his native place, Mr. Thorn 
 examined these Parish Kegisters and 
 found the several dates agreed with the 
 old sailor's statements, and there appears 
 to have been no doubt that he was the son 
 of the Thomas and Mary Smith, as 
 claimed. Mr. Thom, however, was not en- 
 tirely satisfied. A further examination of 
 the same Eegisters showed that a year or 
 two after the recorded birth of John Smith 
 son of Thomas and Mary Smith, the child 
 died and was buried in the Parish Church 
 Yard, A year or two subsequently anoth- 
 er son of the same Thomas and Mary 
 was born and was christened John. This 
 John afterward died and was buried and 
 a further search showed the record of the 
 birth and christening of a third John, son 
 of Thomas and Mary Smith, and this was 
 undoubtedly the old sailor himself who 
 was thus proved to be only 97 years, in- 
 stead of 107 as claimed. 
 
 Mr, Thom and his commission Visited 
 every one or nearly every one of the al- 
 
10 
 
 leged centenarians, and examined the evi- 
 dences of age, mode of life, etc., in each 
 case. It is remarkable that the evidences 
 as to actual age were defective, or entire- 
 ly wanting, and also that great diversities 
 appeared as to modes of living, diet, etc. 
 Some of the oldest used spirits and tobac- 
 co — others abstained entirely. In two 
 particulars they were all alike — ^in the 
 habit of early rising and in the avoidance 
 of undue excitements or excesses of any 
 character. 
 
 This same Mr. Thorn investigated the 
 case of a Captain Lahrbush who created 
 quite a sensation in New York where he 
 died some twenty years ago, at the al- 
 leged age of one hundred and eleven 
 years. This Captain Lahrbush claimed 
 that he was an officer in a certain Scotch 
 Eegiment, British Army, and was present 
 with his Eegiment at the treaty of Tilsit 
 which was signed in 1807. Mr. Thom first 
 proved that the Scotch Eegi]Tient named 
 was not on the Continent in 1807. He then 
 searched the records of the British Army, 
 and found that the only officer named 
 Lahrbush who had been entered on its 
 rolls was cashiered for youthful indiscre- 
 tions in 1818. A full discussion of these 
 points was published in the New York 
 Tribune. 
 
11 
 
 AVHAT IS LIFE? 
 
 Th^re are some things which the mind 
 of man cannot compass. Life, death, an- 
 nihilation, eternity, space, are all be- 
 yond our comprehension. At the utmost 
 we can only grasp some of their attributes. 
 Of their essence we must always remain 
 in ignorance. 
 
 One attribute of life is that it does not 
 commence with each new individual or 
 each new being. Life commences only 
 once for each new species. Keckoning 
 from the first created pair of each species, 
 life never begins again, it is contin- 
 ued. Life is transmitted in each species 
 by parents to their offspring, and with 
 life certain unalterable, unchanging char- 
 acteristics which belong exclusively to 
 that species, which are never found in any 
 other species. Species remain with unal- 
 tered organs, formation, etc., and species 
 disappear, but their peculiar physiological 
 characteristics never re-appear in any 
 other animals or beings. 
 
 Lord Bacon compares life to a flame. 
 "Man is constantly consuming and being 
 consumed." Huf eland says : "Destructive 
 and creative powers are engaged, with a 
 never-ceasing activity, in a continuous 
 struggle within us ; and every moment of 
 our existance is a singular mixture of an- 
 nihilation and new creation. As long as 
 
12 
 
 the vital power retains its frestiness and 
 energy, the living plastic power will have 
 the superiority and the body will increase 
 and approach nearer to perfection, and at 
 last, the vital power being lessened, the 
 consumption will begin to exceed the ren- 
 ovation, and decay, degeneration and in 
 the end, total dissolution will unavoidably 
 follow. The life of man has been divided 
 into two nearly equal parts, one of in- 
 crease, the other of decrease. Each of 
 these parts is divided into two others— 
 hence the four ages, infancy, youth, man- 
 hood and old age. Lastly each of these 
 four ages is sub-divided into two. A first 
 infancy from birth to age 10. A second 
 from 10 to 20 ; this is adolescense. A first 
 youth from 20 to 30 ; a second from 30 to 
 4:0, A first manhood from 40 to 55 ; a sec- 
 ond from 55 to 70. A first old age from 70 
 to 85; a second from 85 to 100. The first 
 infancy is the period of dentition. The 
 second infancy ends at 20 when the bones 
 cease to grow and are united with their 
 epiphyses. Youth is prolonged to 40 be- 
 cause it is only about that age when the 
 body has attained its greatest strength 
 — ^it is the virile epoct of life. The first 
 manhood from 40 to 55 is the period of 
 invigoration, which continues however 
 till 65 or 70. At 70 old age begins. This 
 is the period when the forces in reserve are 
 
13 
 
 drawn upon. "When there can be little if 
 any recuperation, when man lives upon 
 his reserve. The unknown force of life di- 
 minishes more and more as age advances. 
 The duration of life in any being will be 
 proportionate to the innate quantity of 
 vital power, the greater or less firmnes& 
 of its organs, the speedier or slower con- 
 sumption, and the perfect or imperfect 
 restoration. * 
 
 Long life has at all times been the chief 
 desire, the principle object of mankind. 
 How can it be secured? How can the 
 flame be supplied with fuel? These are 
 questions which have always engaged the 
 attention of the deepest thinkers. Per- 
 haps the most interesting and instructive 
 example of the ability to prolong life and 
 preserve health is given in the writings of 
 a wise old man who owed his century of 
 existence to a strict adherence to the prin- 
 ciples of sobriety and moderation. 
 
 Luigi Cornaro was born at Venice about 
 the year 1465, though the exact date of his 
 birth is variously given. He died April 
 26th, 1566, at Padua. He belonged to one 
 of the old families in the city. One of the 
 Cornari, Marco, who died just a hundred 
 years before Luigi's birth, was Doge ; and 
 three other bearers of the same name at- 
 tained the same distinction after hi& 
 death. He began life with a bad constitu- 
 
14 
 
 tion, and a long' course of excesses had, by 
 the time he reached the age of 35, reduced 
 him to a state of extreme misery. For 
 lour or five years he remained in constant 
 bodily and mental suffering. Gout began 
 to lay hold of him ; he was tormented by 
 pains in the stomach and by perpetual 
 feverishness and thirst. His physicians 
 pointed out to him that his chronic ail- 
 ments must have their cause in his habit- 
 ually disordered life, and urged him again 
 and again to change it. He was long con- 
 vinced of the truth of what they said to 
 him before putting their advice into prac- 
 tice. For a ^vhile he pretended to follow 
 it, still eating and drinking as before, and 
 concealed the fact from his doctors — "as 
 all patients do," he adds with some 
 humor. 
 
 At last he found the strength of will to 
 adhere strictly to the diet and mode of life 
 prescribed for him ; and at the end of a 
 year he found himself, instead of a broken- 
 down, hopeless invalid, unfit for either 
 work or enjoyment, a healthy and singu- 
 larly active and happy man. He then 
 €ame to the natural conclusion that the 
 regimen which had overcome the effects 
 of excesses and repaired the natural 
 weakness of his constitution must be the 
 one to keep him permanently in good 
 health ; and from that time onwards, dur- 
 
15 
 
 ing- the sixty years which remained to 
 liim of life, he never, except in the rarest 
 instances, and then to his hurt, swerved 
 from it. He more than completed his 80th 
 year before he set himself down to write 
 his own experiences for the benefit of 
 others. During forty years he had lived 
 a life of almost unbroken health atd hap- 
 piness — a life which contrasted as much 
 with that which he had himself led in his 
 earlier days as with that which he saw 
 commonly lived by others around him. 
 One consideration weighed upon him es- 
 pecially — namely, the value of the later 
 as compared with the earlier years of life. 
 Many men, he argued, by the time they 
 had acquired the knowledge, judgment 
 and experience which qualified them to be 
 useful in the world, are physically, in con- 
 sequence of their careless living worn out. 
 Men who might live, in full possession of 
 all their faculties, to the age of ninety or 
 a hundred, pass away at the age of fifty or 
 sixty. Many who, as he puts it, might 
 •'make the world beautiful," are cut off 
 untimely through the same cause. This 
 feeling, joined to the amiable vanity of a 
 happy and prosperous old age, prompted 
 him to lay his experiences before the 
 world. 
 
 Cornaro's regimen — which consisted of 
 eggs, soup, bread, pancakes and such like 
 
16 
 
 food, with wine — was, as he tells us, in- 
 tended for himself alone. All people 
 should live temperately, but the temper- 
 ance of one man is the excess of another. 
 Cornaro's method is the simple one, that 
 each man should find out for himself what 
 is the suitable quantity of food and drink, 
 for himself, and live accordingly. The 
 charm of Cornaro's narrative consists in 
 the garrulous naivette with which he sets 
 forth his simple creed and practice. Italy, 
 he says, was suffering from three great 
 evils — first, from flattery and ceremonies ; 
 secondly, from the effects ofr Lutheran 
 doctrines; thirdly, from debauchery. 
 These three evils, or rather "cruel mon- 
 sters of human life," have destroyed re- 
 spectively social sincerity; secondly, the 
 religion of the soul; thirdly, the health of 
 the body. The first two plagues he leaves 
 to be dealt with by some "gentilispiriti," 
 who will banish them from the world; 
 the third he undertakes to extirpate him- 
 self, being convinced that Italy, before his 
 death, will return to her former "fair and 
 holy manners." To this end he gives his 
 own practice as an example to be followed 
 —at least in its aim and spirit. His daily 
 allowance of food was three rolls, the yolk 
 of an egg, with meat and soup — the whole 
 weighing twelve ounces ; his daily allow- 
 ance of wine wss fourteen ounces. On 
 
17 
 
 one occasion, after he had slightly in- 
 creased the quantities, he became in a few 
 days "choleric and melancholy," and soon 
 fell into a violent fever, from which he 
 only recovered by returning to his former 
 regimen. He never ate or drank to the 
 extent of his appetite ; avoided extremes 
 of heat and cold ; was careful to have suf- 
 ficient sleep. 
 
 To keep clear of grief, melancholy, 
 hatred, and other perturbations of the 
 mind was also an essential part of his 
 system ; though temperance in eating and 
 drinking will do much to counteract 
 mental troubles, as well as to neutralize 
 the effects of bodily hardships. Once 
 when powerful enemies brought a suit 
 against him, he kept his equanimity and 
 won his case in the end ; while his brother, 
 who had led an irregular life, died of anx- 
 iety while the case was still going on. If 
 men were but temperate as he was him- 
 self, they would live to be 100 years old. 
 He himself intended to do so, and to die at 
 last, not of disease, but of "pura resolu- 
 zione," If he had had a good constitution 
 to start with, he would have reached 120 
 years instead of only a hundred. He did, 
 in fact, die at the age of a hundred, if he 
 did not surpass it. 
 
 Cornaro gives one curious reason for de- 
 siring long life. "If one is a Cardinal he 
 
18 
 
 may become Pope by age. If of import- 
 ance to the Eepublic he may become 
 Chief of it." 
 
 Cornaro finishes his first "Discourse" 
 thus: 
 
 "Such is divine sobriety, friend of nature, 
 daughter of reason, sister of virtue, com- 
 panion of noble, modest, temperate, regu- 
 lar life, and strict in all its actions. It is 
 the root of life, of health, of joy, of address, 
 of skill, and of every action worthy of a 
 noble mind. Laws, divine and human, 
 favor it; irregularities, and the perils at- 
 tendant upon them, fly before* it, as the 
 clouds before the sun. Its beauty attracts 
 every noble heart ; its practice ensures to 
 all a happy and lasting existence; we 
 know it to be the amiable and benign 
 guardian of life, be it rich or poor; it leads 
 the rich to observe moderation, the poor, 
 economy ; the young man to a firmer and 
 surer hope of life ; it protects the old man 
 from death. Sobriety purifies the feel- 
 ings, quickens the faculties, cheers the 
 mind, strengthens the memory. The 
 soul, almost freed by it from its earthly 
 load, enjoys a larger liberty." 
 
 At ninety -five, the closing words of his 
 fourth and last "Discourse" still display 
 his native regard for length of days. 
 
 "I conclude by declaring that great age 
 may be so useful and agreeable to men. 
 
19 
 
 that I believe that I should have been 
 wanting in charity if I had not taken 
 pains to point out by what means they 
 may prolong their days, and as each can 
 boast of happiness of his own, I shall not 
 cease to cry to them, 'Live, live long.' " 
 
 I'rom the foregoing we may see, if we 
 wish long life and good health, how im- 
 portant it is to observe the principles of 
 sobriety and moderation. Not only mod- 
 eration in eating and drinking, but mod- 
 eration in the undue excitements of 
 passion and feeling. There is one disease, 
 unknown in the scientific classification by 
 physicians which in the present day kills 
 more patients than any other. That di- 
 sease is worry. The patriarchs attained 
 extreme old age, because of their simple^ 
 pastoral life, with avoidance of undue ex- 
 citements or worry. There is no case on 
 record of a man with violent temper, or 
 who was affected with the disease, worry, 
 who attained extreme age. 
 
 In addition to moderation and sobriety 
 of living, and of the due observance of 
 sanitary laws, I would add another very 
 important factor, and that is the necessity 
 of moderate and regular exercise. 
 
 A recent writer, Edwin Checkley, in his 
 most interesting and instructive work "A 
 natural method of physical training,'^ 
 states that not one person out of a hun- 
 
20 
 
 dred knows how to breathe properly. He 
 urges the inflation of the chest and the 
 elosing of the nostrils when breathing, 
 which should be drawn at regular and 
 long intervals. I well remember when a 
 young man seeing Indian papooses whose 
 mouths were kept closed by bandages 
 which their mothers had fastened under 
 their chins and around their heads. I did 
 not then know the object. Checkley has 
 explained it. It is to teach the children 
 how to breathe. 
 
 It is wonderful how exhilarating are the 
 effects of following Checkley's*simple in- 
 structions, and how beneficial, as I can at- 
 test from personal experience. 
 
 Checkley lays down an admirable course 
 of physical training and exercise without 
 apparatus, and urges that each set of mus- 
 cles should be duly strengthened and made 
 supple. He is opposed to the usual gym- 
 nastic exercises with apparatus, as being 
 costly, unnecessary and tending to develop 
 some sets of muscles unduly, while other 
 sets are neglected. Athletes are general- 
 ly developed abnormally, and by violent 
 exercises run great risks of injuring the 
 heart. Athletes rarely attain old age. 
 
 Here is a portrait by Hufeland of a man 
 destined to long life. 
 
 "He has a proper and well-proportioned 
 stature, without, however, being too tall. 
 
21 
 
 He is rather of the middle size, and some- 
 what tliiek-set. His complexion is not too 
 florid : At any rate too much ruddiness in 
 youth is seldom a sign of longevity. His 
 hair approaches rather to the fair than 
 the black; his skin is strong, but not 
 rough. His head is not too big; he has 
 large veins at the extremities, and his 
 shoulders are rather round than flat. His 
 neck is not too long; his abdomen does 
 not project; and his hands are large, but 
 not too deeply cleft. His foot is rather 
 thick than long ; and his legs are firm and 
 round. He has also a broad arched chest ; 
 a strong voice, and the faculty of retain- 
 ing his breath for a long time without dif- 
 ficulty. In general, there is a complete 
 harmony in all his parts. His senses are 
 good but not too delicate : his pulse is 
 slow and regular. His stomach is excel- 
 lent, his appetite good, and his digestion 
 easy. The joys of the table are to him of 
 importance ; they tune his mind to seren- 
 ity, and his soul partakes in the pleasure 
 which they communicate. He does not 
 eat merely for the sake of eating; but 
 each meal is an hour of daily festivity ; 
 a kind of delight, attended with this ad- 
 vantage with regard to others, and it does 
 not make him poorer, but richer. He eats 
 slowly, and has not too much thirst. Too 
 great thirst is always a sign of rapid self- 
 
22 
 
 consumption. In general, he is serene, 
 loquacious, active, susceptible of joy, love, 
 and hope, but insensible to the impressions 
 of hatred, anger, and avarice. His pas- 
 sions never become too violent or de- 
 structive. If he ever gives way to anger 
 he experiences rather an useful glow of 
 warmth, an artificial and gentle fever, 
 without an overflowing of the bile. He is 
 fond also of enjoyment, particularly calm 
 meditation and agreeable speculation, 
 is an optimist, a friend to nature, and do- 
 mestic felicity, and has no thirst after 
 honors or riches; and banishes all 
 thoughts of to-morrow." 
 
 I would add that in my opinion every 
 person, at least every one that is not af- 
 flicted with organic trouble or who has 
 neglected too long the observance 
 of the laws of nature, has with- 
 in himself the power to prolong 
 his own existence, as well as to improve 
 and to secure his own good health. In life 
 insurance we find that the best risks are 
 not the most robust men, not the athletes, 
 but are the men, who, without organic 
 trouble or inherited tendencies to disease, 
 are yet obliged to take care of themselves. 
 Men who like Cornaro lives with sobriety. 
 
 I close this paper with a quotation from 
 Addison, who in his Vision of Mirza, must 
 have had in mind a Mortality Table. 
 
23 
 
 "The bridge thou seest, said he, is 
 Human Life ; consider it attentively. Up- 
 on a more leisurely survey of it, I found 
 that it consisted of three score and ten en- 
 tire arches, with several broken arches, 
 which, added to those that were entire, 
 made up the number about an hundred. As 
 I was counting' the arches, the Genius 
 told me that this bridge consisted at first 
 of a thousand arches; but that a great 
 flood swept away the rest, and left the 
 bridge in the ruinous condition I now be- 
 held it. But tell me further, said he, what 
 thou discoverest on it. I see multitudes 
 of people passing over it, said I, and a 
 black cloud hanging on each end of it. As 
 I looked more attentively, I saw several 
 of the passengers dropping through the 
 bridge into the great tide that flowed 
 underneath it ; and upon further examina- 
 tion perceived that there were innumer- 
 able trap-doors that lay concealed in the 
 bridge, which the passengers no sooner 
 trod upon, but they fell through them into 
 the tide, and immediately disappeared. 
 These hidden pit-falls were set very thick 
 at the entrance of the bridge, so that 
 throngs of neople no sooner break through 
 the cloud, but many of them fall into 
 them. They grew thinner towards the 
 middle, but multiplied and laid closer to- 
 gether towards the end of the arches that 
 
24 
 
 were entire. There were indeed, some 
 persons, but their number was very 
 small, that continued a kind of hobbling 
 march of the broken arches, but fell 
 through one after another, being quite 
 tired and spent with so long a walk." 
 
QP85 H75 
 
 Homans 
 
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