The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1854-06-21
INSTANCES OF LONGEVITY.

INSTANCES Ok LON6ENIl.
In Hufeland's Art Of Prolonging Life"
-. cn.pter is devoted to instanc esof great age
among various nations ofancient and modern
fines. The wise Scion attained the age
of CO. Epimenides of Crete. is said 70 nave
lived Is; years Sophocles, Pinda ana ANA
creon lived to the age of so. Democr'a'
lived 100 years. and Diogenes W. Aeno 'he
founder ofthe Stoics, attained nearlyto the age
of 100 wears. and Plato to that of 81. Among
the Romans. NJ. Valerius Corvinus,was above
the sge Of 100 Fabius and Cato, above 90;
Terentia, the wife of Cicero, 1903. There are
several instances of Roman actresses who be-
came old. an advantage which their profess
sion seems now to have lost. One Lucejs
performed a whole century, and made her
appearance publicly when in her ll9th year.
Galeria Copiola wssa sprightly damsel Of 90
years old when she first performed in the
theatre. According to valuable collection
in regard to the duration Of life in the time of
the Emperor Vespasian, preserved by Pliny
from the records of the Census, an unques-
tionably creditable source it appears that. in
the year when that numbering of the people
took place, the seventy sixth of our era, there
were living in that part of Italy which lies
between the Apennines and the Pc, l24 men
who had attained the age of 100 years and
upwards, viz: fifty four of 100. Fifty -seven Of
Ito, two of la5, four of 100, four of from 1875
80 l37, and three of lao. Besides these, there
were in Parma, three men of 100, and two of
1870 in Plscentis, one of 1870; at Faventia, a
woman of 1879, and in Vellejacium, small
town near Placentia, six persons who had at
tanned to the age of Ito, and four to that of
100.
An extraordinary number of instances of
longevity is found among hermits and monks.
The apostle John reached the age of %, the
hermit Paul, celebrated for the severe auste-
rity of his ife to 49, st. Anthony to los and
st. David to 146 Athanasius, Jerome The
odoric, Archbishop of Canterbury, and others,
exceeded the age of 30.
The most extraordinary instances of longe-
witty are to be found in those classes, who,
amidst bodily labor and in the open air, lead
simple life. The most remarkable case men,
toned by our author is that of Henry Jen-
kins, of Yorkshire England, who died in the
year 1870 At the time of his death he was
l69 years old. When he was above the age
of1OO, he was able to swim across rapid riv-
ere.
Next to Jenkins was another Enghshman,
Thomas Parr, of Shropshire, the servant of
farmer, who maintained himself by daily la
bor When above 100 years of age, he mar
ried his second wife. She lived with him II
years, and asserted that during that time he
never betrayed any signs of infrmity or age.
He performed all his usual work till his l3Oth
year, and was accustomed even to thresh.-
The King having heard of his great age, sent
for him to London, and his journey thither,
the change in his mode of life, and his feast
ing and royal treatment at court, it is thought,
brought about his end. He died at the age Of
l52 years and nine months, and had lived un-
der nine Kings of England. The remarka-
BILE fact is mentioned by the author that when
the body of this man was opened by Doctor
Harvey, his internal organs were found to be
In the most perfect state, nor was the least
symptom of decay to be discovered in them
He died merely Of plethora. A great grand
son of Parr lived to the age of 1903.
ADane, named Draakenberg, died in l772,
in the l46th year of his age. j. Efinghan died
In Cornwallin 1857 in the II 4h year of his age.
A number of other instances are given of
persons living to the age of from 100 to ia
years. Sweden, Norway, Denmark, England,
and Ireland have,in modern times, produced
al In no1o nd no
ven years, ls3e-44, there died at the age of
100 and upwards, 75e persons, namely, $50
males and 532 females-giving an average of
LIZ l-2 annually.
In the examples given of extraordinary old
age, there seems to have been every variety
of character, from the peaceful and moderate
to the violent and passionate. Some were
persons of great abstinence and self.denial,
others enjoyed all the good things of life;
and there are not wanting cases of extreme
old age, though they are very rare, among
persons of Incorporate habits
Our author is Of opinion, from all the facts
which he has collected, that the duration of
life in the time of Moses the Greeks and the
Romans, was invariably the same as at pre-
sent and that the age of the earth has no in.
huence on the longevity of its inhabitants,
that difference excepted which may be pro.
duced by the cultivation of its surface. and
the difference of climate that may thence
arise
BALLOON ASCENSION,
great entertainment is in prospect in tn,
the proposed balloon ascension at the Slasl
Cottage on the 18th of July The railroa,
will issue round trip tickets at a reduce,
price from Richmond and Fredericksburg
and trains will leave each place every tw,