Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1855-06-23
miscellaneous
R
roR THE xIDDLE-AoED.


-
L. DO you teisR 10 gror oldP
q. Eoli age ,corth hayiagf
g.. 1theH DO yoa expect your old age 10 begin, and
hoo do you intend 10 make IL pleasant
II you are young, dear reader, but not p%articu-
larly phlilosophic or thoughtful, you can pass On
u the next article.
Ladies, aged, aud gentlemen, aged,
1--WE leave the blanks to be filed up from your pri-
yate knowledge viii you allow us to oHcr you a
respectful thought or two2
al Paris has lately been electrified by a book
on groping old Tor rather Of keeping young writ
ten by an able philosopher, Mons. Flour ems.
For US prematurely -old-srowing Americans, 1t is
particularly valuable, and its hints may coutain
useful knowledge Tor our better economy ofliic as
a nation,
NJ. Flourons says, that, according to Nature, 'he
f'stysuM is from twenty to thirty; the sec9aa
youth from thirty to Forty. The INST aallbool is
trom forty to fifty five the scc1t} AttHhood is from
~fGty-fyo to seventy. The first peri0i Of oil age
Is from seSca:y to eighty-iye; the second from
eishty-hve onwarls. The natural life of man The
paliosoghieaily proyesJ ought 70 carry him on to
These periods, says W.. Flourens, all shade in.
insensibiity into each other, 50 thar IN actuul lite,
we can hardly tell whore the enc ends and the
U.hcr heSius. They vary in length. also, in differ
eat individuals, and most men, nova days, be-
come old and die, while they ought still to have
been in the period Of early manhood.
"fhe limits thus assigned 10y Flourens to the
ScNCtli peflnuS o. IlG (tIuS the reilCNe IN black
wood, from whose notice Of this work we quote
ARE not wholly arbitrary, like those we generally
talk Of; on the contrary, q more or less sound
physiological reason is assigned for each. Infancy
proper ceases at ten years, because then the second
touthing is completed-boyhood at twenty, because
item tie bones cease to increase in lcngtl-and
youth extends to forty, because about that time
lie body ceases to increase in size. Enlargement
Of bulk after that period consists chiefly IN the
accumulation of fat. The real Development of the
- i IL IL L. ,1r.,l~ aAOEnl 90, Of
Increasing the strength and activity, this Ia or
growth weakens the body and retards its motions.
Then, when growth has ceased, the body rests,
rallies, and becomes inyigorated. Like a fortress
with a!liss works complete, its garrison in full
Numbers, and threatened with an carly siege, 1t
repairs, arr1ngcs, disposes everything within it.
s.if. The new stores it daily receives are employed
in fully equipping, in strengthening, in rebuilding,
aud in maintaining every part II the greatest per,
lection and efficiency. This period of internal
Indignation lasts fifteen years Chat of the first
manhood and it maintains itself for ten CT fifteen
years more. when ole. age begins.
And what marks the beginning of old age ?
In youth and manhood we perform II usual daily
amount of physical Or mental labor; but we are
able to do more. Let an emergency arise, and we
hml within us Il reSeJc re of strength which enables
US to accomplish far heavier labors we double
OF triple our exertions, we accomplish the unusua
work, and after a little rest we are as strong at
hale as ever. Old age has come on when we can
no longer do this; when the natural strength i;
barely sufficient for the daily work, when anything
unusual fatigues, and extraordinary efforts seusi
bly, injure the health. When tho reserve Of
strength is exhausted, the age Of decline ha
fairly begun. 1t is by drawing upon this natura
store Of reserved siren 9Th, through excess in liv
ing, faster than it can be naturally repaired, tina
manhood is shortened, and old age SO often prema
turcly entered.
".inl, besides, old age is distinguished by this
that it brings with it a general weakening of tn
whole body. 1t is not the lungs, or the heart, 0
the nerves, of the muscles, that lose their tone
and become incapable of unusual or prolonged
e~xertion. Local disease may weaken one organ
while all the others remain sound and vigorou.
as ever. Bat old age impairs all alike. Each, Sc
to speak, has consumed its treasured stores Of
surplus strength, and, living as it were from hanC
to mouth, is barely able to accomplish the daily
task which the bodily movements impose upon it.
''Yct old age does make itself felt more, ii
every Individual, upon some one organ than upor
all the others. There is q weak member in every
man body. All parts are not alike strong anC
healthy in any Of US. On this weak member OLE
age tells most sensibly and hence in one man tn
decline of strength first distinctly manifests itsel
upon the lungs, in another upon the stomach, an,
ia a third upon the heart. And as the ezcessiv
weakening Of any one organ ntiuen"es-liampers
we may say, and obstructs-Sll the rest, it ma
happen that this weakness, original or acquired, {
one Important organ, may suddenly arrest life a
e gether when the age Of decline arrives. As
penalty for the excessive use which has impaire
that organ, old age may DO barely reached betoI
the whole machinery of life spontaneously stop
and is arrested at once"
That com p~arative1y few men reach ninety or
hundred years is true, but that is because Of Il
Interference Of disturbing causes. HoSt U,ea d
Of di4ease; only a snail number die Of old az
"ID our artificial life, the moral is more freqUeu
~ sick than the physical man. In d calmer NOR;
atmosphere, entire lives would be more frequent
spent. almost all says Button, spend the
lives IN fear and contention, and most men (mo'
Erencaneu, 81 course, he means) die Of chasriR-
Among savage tribes it is the same. Few die
uatHral death All die by accidents, by hung
by wounds, by the poison Of serpents, BY epidem
diseases, etc. That few really reach their hu
dredth year. therefore experience repeats. is
proof that such is not the natural term of hunla
life"
Bufon Investigated the subject physiolo gicall
lie writes as follows;-
The totli duration Of life May be estimat,
81 q certain degree by that of the duration of
Euinisi's growth 4 Man increases
heighth up IL his sixteenth or eighteenth yea
aad yet tbs full Development in size Of ali Il
parts of the body is rot completed til the thi
tieth gear The dog attajns ats full length ia o
yesr. and oniy in the second year cemplets i
gIsSlh ia h1ik os size Man, Ehe takes thirt
: Years 70 grow, Lives ninety or a hundred year
Ebr dog watch grows only daring two or thr
years, Lives only ten or tselFs and ii is the san
With most other a~Hitsa.s-
This passage esRtaiAs TIE gerna Of an i'd
which he Afterwards &sYfisps more clearly. I'll
dnratjGa OF he IN the isrsc.' BE says, Has in g
Stkex species Of auisnals, is preportioaste to Ii
leasta II time derias which IS Crews Man. vi
taxes S4prteen Yesrs 10 grow, mag live six or seve
taass As longs A&t is. TO niaety or a bondre
years The horse. rhieh completes it growth
fhas gssrs anay I've ak or seVen tiincs as long; TIL
is. % tsenty or thirty yeSrn.'
"Asd again, As the stag is Eve or six gears
gessins, AZ iiTeA AisS seven times i've or six; tai
Is. % thirty-6veOr f5rty ysarS.'
"Sa Ear, Bgfoa lays down the true ~pIysisiag
3 cal ~problen. The ength Of ii6s 10 q Iaaldple
tas Lsagta az gr0wai- fisSwn deduetions Is II
Irus ~aiElSipis were GnesEsA;n, because his dAi
wess 90, ise lda MT ka9E accurately At what =.
tbs growth 81 nsAa and other animals re2liy eea
4 81. or CHAT Was the trus sign Of such cessatio
a. tsis paint n PtsareBs taEes the question az
~at rich $40 .eauFaAa stsAnuzissG euA th rsfoI