The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1877-06-17
HOW TO LIVE LONG,

The desire for length of days seems (,
have been far greater in times past than i
Is now. With view of bestowing some
timely hnts on orr active business men
who are rushing on in pursuit of riches re
gardiess OF the exhaustion of their physica
and mental faculties, a contemporary pub
hshes lengthy article, from which we
| conder 50 the following:
Ne ariy all the principal writers on Ion
gevlry are agreed that human beings may,
under the most favorable conditions, live
to buudred, and several have recorded
lnstauces of persons reaching much
greater age; but the Instances given do
not in any case satisfactorily bear rigid
examination. Hufeler, public lecturer at
Jena, who published a work on longevity
in the last century, thus describes the sort
of man who has the best prospect of loug
life: He has well proportioaed stature.
without, however, being too tall. He is
rather of the middle size, and somewhat
IL ick-set. His complexion is not too ho
rid-at any rate too much ruddiness in
youth is seldom a sign of longevity. Hair
approaches rather to the fair than to the
black his skin is strong, but not rough.
His head is not too big. He has large
veins at the extremfties, and his shoulders
are rather round than fat; his neck is not
too long; his belly does not project, and
his hands are large but not too deeply
cleft. His foot is rather thick than long,
and bis legs are firm and round. He has
broad chest and strong voice, aud the
faculty of retaining his breath for a long
time without difficulty. In general there
is complete harmony in all his parts. His
senses are good, but not too delicate his
pulse is slow and regular. His appetite is
good and his digestion easy. He has not
too much thirst, which is always a sign of
rapid eelf consumption. His passions new
or become too violent or destructive. If
hn fviyynn
glow OF warmth without an oveiHJwing of
the gall. He likes employment, pa:ticu
larry calm meditation and agreeable spec
an optimist, a friend to Nature
aud domestic felicity-has no thirst after
either donors or riches, and bauishes all
thought of to morrow. This power of
anxiety has an immense deal to
q management OF the mind" which DR..
Johnson 80 justly told Boswell was "a
great art" adding that a man when miser-
able should not go to his chamber and try
to think his trouble down, but should Geek
every possible means to divert it. Dwell
ing on misery at once affects, and most Sc
riously, the digestive organs.
There are DOT few people the very fine.
ness of whose constitution proves their
ruin. They draw 80 extravagantly upon
their powers that they are dust and ashes
forty years before the creaky wheels who
started In the race with them have done
In this country we discount our
future more heavily, perhaps, than in any
other not by dissipation, but by overtax-
ing our energies. A very large proportion
of men who die rich here die twenty years
before they ought if they had properly
husbanded their vital resources. Mr..
Macy, the we'll known fancy dealer, was,
We believe, only Sc or So, and had been
slaying his whole ife;+ in fact bis complete
break up was explained by his intense toll.
Such a career seems like getting very lit
lie out of life. A still more striking in
stance of the kind was that of Mr.. Angus
us Hemingway, of Boston, who worked
/, mself into a lunatc asylum, whence he
zane worth some SIS, 000, 900, only to get
nto his grave a few months later. We
loubt whether the history of the world
could show a more reckless disregard of
life than is shown by commercial men in |
his country. The science of combining |
intense application with those habits which |
onduce to longevity is one that they have |
lot acquired. That it may be acquired |
onpot be Soubted. Newton lived to
,reat age; and great lawyers have been
amous for long life. There seems to be
ack of wisdom in commercial men as to
he real value of life. TEey put a wholly
nordinate estimate upon the power of get
ing and spending.
Rest assured that there ia, in brief, only
ne golden rule to be followed by all who
eek lcngevity-moderatiun in al things,
nd management of the mind.