The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-09-04

[frcm :he PROVIDE ace Press, A.dgust 2e.l j, 49,
.vstai ror a.rsAf CiyisiSe6 Races.

'iSo III, ObIy ole natt sgt WIZ = ~. .ua
aH the real activity and force OF .ps " =,
n4sxe oar who lives the same nu 9ss,e;,sd
AVS. In other words, people OF impI1 81
hssi,h arc not 10 be Freckoned as equai IN "
tn,;tv 20 those who are In perfect stfengtn,
haco,,ca hoth have an equal long Tlsy.,d.s n
This shows how inadequate q eesLoi Vi
,a,itv mere duration OF life Is. TO tne IN
s,,rer Of lives longevity ID the only element
- calcnlate. with the social stattstician or /
Tho political economist It Is very inferior
element. And yet even with the Tile assu-
rance company, longevity may prove de- |
ren,ion and its tables Of averages which |
were safe for one generation plunge 1t into |
in the second. For stamina ana |
duration or life are sooner or later sure TO |
become, co0.dinate., Stamina represents IL
self in intensity rather than in longevity
that Is 10 say, parents who protract feeble
existence to old age beget children 10 Wnom
the yigor and teDacity Of life suceumos more
readily to disease and trial. p..,..,l.tf.,-,
:! Bui apart from this view Of the case, that
feature Of human life with which society
most concerned Is not it's protraction, Dut
Its activity. Human activity Is our great
pa;ue Of wealth, or primary resource. IL
can be diminished, while the longevity Oh
the race continues unaitered, so tnat ~
gjsor and productiyeness man OF tnis ger
Grafton may not; half equal man Of sne
eighteenth century. .es,'1. :. - -.
"a most interesting Inquiry comes before
| ns in the question, Are the vital powers Oh
civilized men dminishirgs At the very out.
set Of an answer TO 1t we are met VIII
diaaculty. For reasons already gwen we
cannot decide the point by comparison oi
longevity in one generation Wild tnat OF an'
| other. We must seek sotation, II anyWnele,
in the character of the diseases to wnicn me9
are subject. In this research we are hindereo
by another want of accurate STATISTICAL IN
formation. For example, 1t Is beyono q
question that there Is more intimate assocla.
ton between the nervous system or toe near'
and the vital powers than between the secre.
t;ons and the vital powers. The power of
remuneration, or of resisting the ;inroad Oh
disease. seems to be in the nervous system.
Rnt when we come to examine into the
natural history Of insanity or heart-aff 'c.
tions, We find the records very scanty and
very recent. aae ."N, - =.
There is one fact, however, that may be
taken into account. The improvement In
medical skill and hygiene knowledge tends
| to prolong feeble lives. Infants, which IN
rude age would not survive the diseases IN
cideut to childhood, mothers hardly vigor-
Gus enough to endure single confinement,
these. through superior knowledge and nurs'
ing, are sustained to take part in all the
functions of life till oldage. Persons sthict-
ed with disease are enabled to combat 1t, and
| to prolong feeble existence through
! many years, becoming parents in the midst
! of their misery, and transmitting weak con-
| stitutious to their offspring. Thus while
feeble and less effective elements are grow
ing into larger proportion in society, no Sta
tistics of age will disclose it.
But this is necessary incident of human.
! ity. If men were no more than mere work
ing machines this dark shadow would follow
| ali advancement in medical skill with in
creasing depth and length. But as immortal
beings they are entitled to all the years and
support that wisdom and care can render.
Far more serious are the inroads which are
m ,de upon public health by change 10 our
modes of life and the gradual notifications
of our social organic .tiop.
It is quite clear that great change has in
the course of years come over civilized man.
kind in reference to the diseases that threaten
us. Some maladies have become extinct as
the plaques that desolated London and
France and Italy during the Middle Ages,
and to as late time as the English reyolu-
ton in 1858. Others have become greatly
mitigated, as the smallpox and syphilitic al
Elections, which seem to be eXhaustng their
yiruleuce. The old acute fevers, which were
very frequent only generation back, are OF
far less common occurrence now.
On the other hand, new diseases have ap.
reared, as the cholera, which was not known
10 Europe until the early part of this century.
The prevailing type Of fevers is less acute
and more typhoid than formerly, and this
points to debilitated constitution, for levers
arc generally more violent in strong, vlgor-
Gus persons than with those who are feeble.
But especially may be observed the pro-
portionate increase of diseases affecting the
| heart and the nervous system. From the
London Lancet we learn that there has been
steady increase in the ratio of deaths from
disease of the heart for twenty years. The
figures are given as follows: In the first
| five of this score of years the number OF
deaths was 73-l00 in every 1000 men from
that proportion it steadily increased to l.9
100 in the 1000 during the last FIVE years.
Emitting to take into account the increase
of population, the deaths are given ut II ,0OO
from this disease in 1850, and at over % 900
in 1870. As has already been shown, the
Increase of fatal cases has been much in eX-
cess of the increase Of population. The Ian
Get attributes this alteration to the greater
wear and tear of business, and tbe Increased
mental activity Of the age. ra-.
" The period of life when this disease is
most fatal is from twenty to forty.fiye and
after sixty. 1t shows loss OF vital power.
As for nervous affections of all kinds their
increase is notorious. Such difficulties seem
| to lie at the very foundation Of life and to.
| undermine the constitution by slow steps.
They are not sudden and acute attacks, but
their fatality Is the development OF a process
long going on-a Pickering out of a candle
burned to the socket +, ..,a m ..l..a,ss
1t could hardly be otherwise than that the
wonderful changes which have come over
society in an industrial way, affecting the
employment aud habits of all classes Of per.
sons, should producea corresponding change
| in the ipfrmities and maladies of, men. So.
| ciety has grown more complex, and the
pressure upon our. energies is greater. Bust.
ness has kind OF momentum, Increasing
sccording, to Its, vast, connections, which
drives people on. More work is done
| In confined ROOMS, with impure air, as
our manufacturing interests have, increased
The strain is taken off the muscles by, the
appliances Of civilization, aud put upon the
| brain. Aud with all this there are fewer
holidays, fewer merry. making sports. The
schools, the iactoSies, the offices. are housing
asrup4 and destroying the equilibrium be-.
Tween mind and Euscle. The Increasing
need Of the people is more relaxation, more
outdoor air, more healthful good cheer, and
less anxiety, 6II IBJCANr 80
| Il is well, 10 this aaaterialistic age, to re-
memb or that vigor and health and cheerful.
ness haye an economical value. Whatever
reduces them lessons the " ealth. making
power, a nd this progress may. 60 on while
our otabts OF longevity show us nothing
about it, ~ ~ , ,s 80 :; ::t - 81