NEW LAMPS FOR OLD.

Auckland Star, Volume 55, Issue 22, 26 January 1924, Page 6

NEW LAMPS FOR OLD.

NOT THE LAMP OF LIFE. VORQNOFF'S BRIEF VIRIUTY. BURSTING THE WORN BOILER. New lamps for old! But not the lamps of liuman life. In the opinion of medical men who have watched developments, the experiments of Voronoff in attempting to rejuvenate worn and aged frames with the glands of vigorous apes are a I failure. Conservative medical opinion I was always sceptical regarding the experiments of Voronoff, but notwithstanding its apprehension of danger, it was content to wait and watch, realising i that there are always possibilities, even in the most radical departures from established practices. After long observation, however, the "monkey-gland" treatment is regarded as a dangerous operation, the putting into practice of a fantastic theory which, while apparently temporarily beneficial, leads : swiftly to disaster, and the latest an- ; nouncement that the originator of the ; cult intends to fertilise mules with his j "monkey-gland" manoeuvre is frankly J scoffed at. ! Sudden and Dramatic Ends What is the effect of the Voronoff I operation, to which so many well-known 1 names have submitted, and from which so many of the "reju\ _ enated" have died? Keally, it concentrates the vital forces, which sends the organism full steam ahead, instead of allowing it to continue going slowly and in accordance with nature over a possibly long remaining period of life. This is declared to be contrary to the laws of nature, I whose 18.WS a,re 3.Q3.ni3.nt and c&imot dg j changed by an artificial method—they j may be diverted, but not changed, and diversion is always disastrous. Doctors now declare that sufficient data has been collected in regard to the "monkeygland" treatment to prove that however • successful the concentration of vital I forces has been after these operations. there have been several sudden and dramatic deaths as a finale and that it is effectually demonstrated that you j cannot put a full pressure of steam on lan old, worn boiler as you can on a j new one without an explosion. "Enormous Stimulation." I The concentration of the vital forces following the "rejuvenation" process is followed b\- an enormous stimulation of the circulation, stated an Auckland doctor. The result is that either the old arteries or the "pump" must go under i the strain. The danger of any induced j high pressure on hardened arteries and j aged hearts is too well known to need ! comment. Host sudden deaths result from this cause. An apt way to regard the result of the Voronoff operation is Ito compare it with the putting of a 4-volt lamp on to an S-volt current. There is bound to be a blow-out! But Voronoff is not the originator of "rejuvenation." There are, for instance, old men in their "seventies" who marry young and attractive brides. When a man of 65 weds his ordinary "expectation of life" is two years, or less, the reason being that the new order of things brings about this very "coiicentration" of the vital powers which results from the "monkey-glaiid" operation, acting very much along the lines of suggestion—the suggestion of renewed youth. For the time beino- the newly-married old man takes on activities of various.kinds which ri"htlv belong to youth—activities to which* they were accustomed to in their "thirties'" and "forties" —with the inevitable result I that the machine gives out and life is j shortened considerably. The activities of youth belong to youth alone j though youth sometimes may be judged not so much from the standpoint of age as from the condition of the machine. Some are old at forty, others young at sixty. Follow Nature. Science mows slowly on. always making new discoveries for the benefit of man, the safeguarding of his health and the prolongation of his life: but every beneficial discovery has been made along the lines laid down by the laws of nature, and success cannot be hoped for in any radical departure from those age-old laws. Nature has declared that J the body of man shall die when it shall have accomplished its last use as a living entity: therefore it is that the Elixir of Life has been sought for in vain. Quacks and cranks are ever announcing great discoveries which the investigation of honest science dra"- s to earth and rolls again into the dust from which they came. There are no new lamps for old— not in the Voronoff S,t J i 011 ° f cannot light the ashes of a burned-out wick.