The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1867-12-25
4HE ComNgSCEnENf OF OLD AGE.

w Hal dtS viz siS I'D VI ih"Sssa - N~-y
When does old age commenced? The
natural history of individual death,
without desease, 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 heal
thy man, and what are the ways by
which normal decay, inevitable death,
invade the aged man? With orr mo-
dern means Of precise observation and
minute pathological research, we should
be able now to lay the foundation for
the answer to this most important ques-
ton. The subject is suggested to MS
by most thoughtful, able, and we'll
written thesis on death, considered
from the theological points of view, by
DR.. Acosta of Paris, which will repay
the perusal of reflective men. Discuss
ing the difficulty of determining the
commencement Of old age, DR.. Acosta
reminds us that, whilst the Greeks re.
garded the age Of e times I, their
climacteric number) as the eliminating
point of human strength, and, at the
same time, as the commencement OF de-
cadence, NJ. Flourens holds that deca-
dence does not commence until the 10th
year; an age which the Chinese, accord
ing to Sir John Bowring, regard as
metaphorical one, calling those who
have attained to it ''rare BIRDS" and
men of so years old ''loiterers." The
two climacteric ages of the Arabs were
So and 81, being the multiplication OF
9 their magic number) by and 8:
The age of So was considered so critical
that it was called the grand climacte-
rio, and the ancients were accustomed
to mutually congratulate each when
they had passed it. Quetelet, to
certain extent, admits the danger of
this critical period; for he says, "From
60 to e5 years of age, vitality loses
much of it's energy; that is to say, the
probability of continuing to live dlml'
nishes greatly"
NJ. Reveille PARSE, while, in COM
mon with some other psychologists,
allowing the existence of two other
sources of strength in the consti-
tuition, which he names force in use, be-
lieves that the physiological fact which
reveals old age is the progressive dimi-
mutton of reserved force so superabun-
dant in youth. There certainly exists
some organizations which are proof
against the ravages of time, and the at
tacks of sickness and death. Some men
at the age so, 80, even 100 years, have
preserved their sensorial and intellec-
tual faculties, and their great mental
energy, even to the last days of their
life. A complete list of them void be
too long. We will, therefore, only
a few names. Plato died at
the age of 81, pen in hand; Georgias
continued his literary labors at the age
oflO7; Socrates writes his famous "Pa-
negyric of Athens in his oath year;
Theophratus his "Characters 81 at 90;
Cato learnt Greek after his sixtieth year;
Cicero composed his charming work,
'De Senectute," one year before his
violent death; Voltaire wrote great
of tragedies, "Iancrede" and
'I'Orphelin de la Chine, amongst 9th
ers worthy of his best time, at the age
of sixtyfive, and he came to Paris in
his seventy fourth 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 we'll as the literary, scientific,
and political world, who would illus
trate the list of Nestors, remarkable
both for their longevity and for intel
lectual labors to which they continue to
devote themselves. Disraeli has said,
"Old age has been thing unknown to
many men of genius. british Anaeri-
can Journal.