The tri-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1866-1868, 1867-12-21
THE CONFINEMENT OF OIL OLD AGE.

WHAT are the signs OF natural DECAY!
When does. old age commence 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 hcaE
thy man, and what are the ways by
which normal decay, inevitable death,
invade the aged man? With our mo-
derrf means Of precise observatonand
minute pathologicalr research, we should
be aflei41ow to lay the foundation for
&the answer to this most important ques-
ton. The subject is,.suggested to us
by a most thoughtful,i able, and we'll
written +. thesis !, on. death, considered
from, the eth9logieal points of view, by
Dr. Acosta of Paris, which will repay
the perusal of reflective men. Discuss
ing The difficulty Of determining the
coi1rnencemefit of old age, DIR. Acosta
reminds us that, whilst the Greeks. re
earded the age of G times Z, their
climacteriic II 3nfiumber) as the eliminating
point Of human strength, and, ut the
Same time, as the totirlencemcnt of de-
cadeiice,,' NJ. r Flourens holds that deca
dence does not commence until the!70th
year; ,anaee whiUh the Chinese, accord-
mig to Sir ohm Bowri ing, regard as a
nnetapharieal one, calling those who.
have, attained, to. it 'srare birds" and
me1,, of so years old 'sloiterers." The
two climacteric, ages of the Arabs We're
63 and 81, being the multiplication Of
os(their magic number) by and 9.
THE age Of i63 was considered SO critical
that it was called the grand climacte
ric. and the 'ancients were accustomed
to MUTUALLY congratulate each when
theysiiha passed. it, Quetelet, Ito a
certain extent, admits the danger of
this critical period !; for he, SAYS, "From'
so to 65 years, of age, vitality loses
much of its energy; that is to say, the
probability of continuing to live dimi
nishes greatly.
M. yReveille iParise, while, in COM
mon with some other psychologists,
allowing the, existence OF two other
sources of strength ia the y eensti;
tuition. which he names force, in use, be
lieyies that the physiological fact which
reveals old age is the progressive dimi-
mutton of reserved force so supera bun
,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 mea,
at the age 80, 80, even 100 years, have
preserved their senserial and inteilec-
tual faculties, and their great mental
energy, even to the last days of their
life. a complete list of them wold be
too long. We will, therefore, only |
mention a few names. Plato died at
the age of 81, pen i'll hand; Georgias
continued his literary labors at the age
of I07 Socrates writes his famous "Pa-
neryric of Athens in his oath year;
Theophratus his g, Characters !" at 90;
( Cato learnt Greek after his sixtieth year;
Cicero acomposed1 his charming work,
isDe rSenectnte," :" one year before his
violent death Voltaire wrote a great
number Of tragedies, F'Tancrede'' and
ssL'Orpbelin de Ia Chine, amongst 9TH
ers worthy of his. best time, at the age
of sixty. five, and he came to Paris in.
his seventy fourth year to give himself
an intellectual treat, the representation
of his tragedy of "Irene." "n~ There are
also still living members of our profes-,
sion, as we'll as the literary, scientific,
and political world, who would illus
trate the list of Nestors, remarkable
both for,tbeir longevity and for intel
lectual iabors to which they continue to
devote, themselves. .3Disraei has said,
"Old age has been thing unknown tol
many men of genius.n- British 4mey;-, !,
can Jo,tyaaI, I 1 3Gi-.jeTs.I -..rit,~ 81.
g. S--L- : -s5- u II
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