THE LAW OF LONGEVITY.

Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 58, 5 September 1885, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE LAW OF LONGEVITY.

Is there toot some standard or model laid down by physiology that shows why, in certain cases, life should be protracted to a great age 1 It does not depend upon food, climate, locality, race, or care, though all these may have much to do with it. Is there not an internal factor more potent than all these? One of the great secrets, we believe, not only of good health, but of long life, consists in the harmony or balance of organisation. This must apply both to structure and function. The leading vital organs should be not only sound but well-balanced. Tho principal forces in carrying on the functions of life may be summed up under these heads — respiration, digestion, circulation, assimilation, and secretion. Each of these departments must be well sustained in order to secure long life. But, aside from any theory or opinion or argument, what are the actual facts — what do we find in the organisation of those persons who have reached a very great age i No tables or statistics can be giveu from post mortem examinations of such cases,' because attention has not been turned in this direction. But from the physical description of a great number of very aged persons, and from careful observation also of a very large number, we have always fouud that a moststriking harmony or balance of the physical system prevailed. In great longevity there is uniformly found remarkable consistency or ( evenness in the mental, moral, and social elements of character. These traits originate from a sound and well developed brain. This organ plays a very important part in securing longevity. There is another very important factor in longevity — that is, inheritance. Scarcely any truth on this subject is more firmly established than that the ancestry, the family, or stock, has much to do with long life. Seldom, if ever, do we find a person reaching a great age without some one or more persons in the ancestry have reached a great age. What then, is the peculiarity or type of organisation here perpetuated : What are its elements that make life so long 1 } Do we not find that they consist in a sound, healthy structure of every part of the body, and that there is a remarkable balance in all the organs, and a harmony of functions 1 So universally is this essential element found in persons long-lived that we question whether a single exception to the rule can be found. — Phrenological Magazine.