LONG LIFE

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21506, 22 June 1935, Page 15

LONG LIFE

MEN WHO PASS SEVENTY "THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN" CHALLENGED When the Rev. F. G. Brittan suggested recently that too much stress is laid on the Psalmist's ■ estimate of the span of life at three score year* and ten, he was expressfng a view which is substantiated by statistics. When a man reaches the age of 70 he has a good chance of holding 6ut for another decade—-the average expectation of life is about eight years—and a woman has a better chance still. Most people who have reached the age of 25 will pass the age of 65. and a good number will live well beyond 70. It is difficult to get exact figures, but those available indicate that three score and ten is a conservative and pessimistic computation of human life in general. Annuitants Live Longest Different causes, of course, make for longevity. Apart from the ability of wealthy relatives in fiction to live to a good old age, it is an established fact that annuitants—people who have secured an income for the course of their lives—live longest. This was stated by a member of the staff of a. leading insurance company yesterday. It may seem ironical that a way to ensure long life should be to make one's death a financial benefit to somebody else, but it is a method proved by statistics. The reason, it *s stated by doctors, is that a guaranteed income means freedom from worry such as other investments would bring, and this is one of the surest means of securing long life. The average length of human life hns as is generally known, been increasing during the last 100 years. But this is due mainly to the prevention of mortality among infants and young children, and not to increasing the chances of long life for those who survive the dangers of childhood. Actually, their chances may be less. In the year 1902 Karl Pearson carried out investigations on the ages recorded on Egyptian mummies; he found that whereas the modern European of 25 could expect to live 15 years longer than the ancient Egyptian of that age, yet the Egyptian of 68 had a far greater expectati6n of life. The preservation of weaker children means that the average standard of health of those surviving infancy wijl be reduced, and a shorter average expectation of life will ensue. Extreme Longevity The number of people who reach. the age of 100 is not very great, though Bacon laid down 100 years as the natural span of man's life, on the grounds that a man should live eight times the length of the .period it took him to reach maturity. Those who have lived over the century have generally secured some fame and recognition, though it is quite likely that their number has been greatly exaggerated. Censuses have often revealed an unexpectedly low number of people between the ages of 85 and 90, and this has been attributed to a tendency among old people to exaggerate their age. But there have 1 been undoubted examples of longevity, from "Old Parr," who died in the seventeenth century to the Turkish gentleman, born towards the end of the eighteenth century, who lived long enough to be run over by a motorcar a few years ago. Various reasons have been given by these celebrities for their long lives—total abstinence, a glass of beer three times a day, sardines and coffee, and various other prescriptions. It is generally considered, however, that heredity and general environment are the determining factors, and long life is gained in spite of the special habits of those who attain it. Mr Brittan's remarks about his activities, as well as the example of many other long-lived people, suggest that the second half of the text was also a gloomy overstatement: "And if by reason of their strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off and we fly away." The [activities of septuagenarians and Octogenarians have often excited comment. Mr Bernard Shaw's fame and literary productivity are at their height after he passed the age of 70. The French painter Millet did some of his best when he was over 75. Mr Edmund Gosse died after he had' turned 70 with his critical' faculties undirnmed. There seems to be a foundation for Mr Brittan's criticism of, .the Psalmist.