THE SECRET OF YOUTH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18297, 13 January 1923, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE SECRET OF YOUTH.

MONKEY pLAND PROCESS, | ' . , VORONOFF 'ANT* HIS WOBJSi , Wherever' one '. goes in" Paris* nowadays one hears tie name oil Dr. Voronoif, the furgeon' who,'by grafting glands from monkeys, claims to make old; men- middle aged and middle aged men, young, /writes the Paris' correspondent of a London 'paper. 'i; When first itVwaaheard -of this monkey gland grafting process was thought to he another of those' impossible schemes which are. from time to time attributed to scien« tists. ":. Many people imagined' Vbronoff as a dreamer— experimenter*,. who had more faith " ; than reason to his' world He is no dreamer * nor : is he' a quack. He seeks no money, but rather spends his own quite lavishly in the belief that he is doing ' Eomething * for * his, race/ He ia a quiet, . practical man who" shuns -the lime;light. ;'.,'.'■":.;;;'■ /V : '■ .".;"'■','" , One wooldl imagine that Dr." Voronoff would be.busy for the rest of.his life operating on an endless stream of eager patients. It is not to be so. To begin with, he looks upon his discovery, for, the mo- • ment as being ian exceptional; means to be used only in exceptional cases./ He is not prepared to attempt to restore-youth to all . comers/ it is to be reserved or the men whom humanity can -least afford to lose.

I Imagine a brilliant statesman who, when '„ his counter needs, him, sadly, - shows signs of passing off the active, list. :It is to such men as this that Da Voronoff would apply his treatment. '-. ; ,",v' ! '- : " The 1 Delights of Age. There is ' another reason why ho is not likely to besieged. Quite a iliumber of men do not want to; grow any younger. They have .tasted youth and then ■ passed on to i they, await quit© happily the pleasures tthat belong to age. Many famous Frenchmen ' are being asked at the present moment whether they would like to bo made younger. .And the strange thing about their .replies is' that ; not one of them wants youth back without some changes. ' 'They -warili young,:, vigorous bodies' and old heads, the i eagerness and energy of youth, with' the *caln>' and -patience of, later years. Now the two will riot * mix. Life is not like-that..'. So many, having, thought it " .carefiully. have said (i No " to the wonderful : offer of youth held out to them. One, a noted .author, replied,. "Why should 1 want to go back to' youth ? I. have not yet tasted the delights of age, which;/will, bei new." Period of Rejuvenation. : Perhaps it .is? well that humanity as a whole does not rush eagerly to grasp the new prize. _ What- would become of the young men if the old men never grew any .older? :■ ■*'. ~.-■ • •' ..-;; . .- ,-•/'•';■: One question* which is perhaps as interesting as the-original discovery is how long .the: rejuvenation .lasts. 'This Dr. Voronoff . cannot' answer, So f far 'he can only ; say that, 'it has lasted -at any , rate for. three years in-some of his living pa-,-. tients, •.(.•■-v. Suppose itW' should =■? last for ten years, what then Da Voronoff says/ he would renew the process,,since it is a simple operation, with no ill-effects so far as can be . discovered. > He (believes thereis no • reason why ;it should not '. be ; renewed time after time; • •' Humanity has not been'fairly faced before with this question whether it wanted ,tq regain youth?or, riot. ? It' has- just toyed 'with it as with; an idea that seemed very 'pretty bo long as it was impossible. Now': >t .has,. <besn. * opked*/'• to -think •:-> about: < th» choiced as a cohcVeta proposition. Ton would hardly have believed that men as a (ral6 Cfttould ; Say they; were riot particularly keeri about it. -Yet that' is the fact. We ..are ■;. not-, ■;,after* all, >so dissatisfied with, things- as.they* are as; .werißorqietimea protend tobo.» ,-.•. <.;.,. :, i , ,--' ■■"'... >.;;.X' '-'/;■' ~-.': ' ",!.'" '■'.■■!■■ V..