Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-11-20
The commencement. of Old Age.

The Commencement of Old Age.
What are the signs of natural decay /?
When does old age commence The
natural history of individual death,
without disease, is one of the subjects
which it remains for modern physicians
to study. When does the vital machine
begin to wear out in the typically healthy
man, and what are the ways by which
normal decay, inevitable death. invades
the aged man? With our modern means
of precise observation and minute path
illogical research we should be able now
to lay the foundation for the answer to
this most important question. The sub
ject is suggested to us by most
thoughtful, able and well written thesis
on death, considered from the
geological points of view, by
Doctor Acosta, of Paris, which
will repay the perusal of reflective men.
Discussing the difficulty of determining
the commencement of old age, DR..
Astaco reminds US, that, while the
Greeks regarded the age of forty nine
(seven times seven their climacteric
number) as the eliminating point of
human strength. and, at the same time,
as the commencement of the decadence,
NJ. Flourens holds that the decadence
does not commence until the SEVENTEEN
year-an age which the Chinese, ac-
cording to Sir John Bowring, regarded
as a metaphorical one, calling those who
have attained to it "rare BIRDS" and
men of ninety years old "loiterers."
The two climacterIc ages of the
Arabs were sixty-three and eighty-one,
being the multiplication of nine (their
magic number) by seven and nine. The
age of sixty three was considered so
critical that it was called the grand-cli
materic, and the ancients We're accustom-
ed to mutually congratulate each other
when they had passed it. Quetelet, to
a certain extent, admits the danger of
this critical period, for he says, "From
sixty to sixty-fve years of age vitality
loses much of its energy-that is to say,
the probability of continuing life dimin-
ishes greatly"
NJ. Reveille-P Parise, while, in common
with some other Psychologists, allowing
the existence of two sources of strength
in the constitution, which he names force
in reserve and force in use, believes that
the physiological fact which reveals old
age is the progressive diminution of re-
served force SO superabundant in youth
There certainly exists some organiza-
tions which are proof against the ravages
of time and the attacks of sickness and
death. Some men at the age of
so, 90, even 100 years, have
preserved their sensoral and in
tellectual facilities. and great mental
energy, even to the last days of their
life. A complete list of them would be
too long. We will, therefore, only men,
tion few names. Plato died at the age
of 81, pen in hand. Gorgias continued
his literary labors to the age of 1O7.-
Socrates wrote his famous "Panegyric of
Athens" in his oath year; Theophras-
tus his character" at 90; Cato learn
ed Greek after his Goth year; Cicero
composed his charming work, ''De Sem
ectute," one year before his violent
death; Voltaire wrote number of TRACE
dies, "Tancrede" and 'L'Orphelin de la
Chine among others worthy of his
best time, at the age of 65, and he came
to Paris in his s4th year to give himself
an intellectual treat, the representation
of his tragedy of "Irene." There are
also still living members of our profess
sion, as well as the literary, scientific
and political world, who would
illustrate the list of Nestors, remarkable
both for their longevity and for the intel
lectual labors to which they continue to
devote themselves. Disraeli has said,
"Old age has been a thing unknown to
many men of genius. British Medical
Tou,o1I