Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1877-08-25
A \ LONGEVITY.

MANS LONGEVITY.
Tho average Of mans life varies from
time to time with his habits OF industry.
his morality and his culture. The ages
OF the great p~atriarchs. - set down In
the Bible. are in dispute. Nearly al Of
,hes. biblical characters lived between
eight or ten centuries, Msthasslah
reaching the greatest age. nine hundred
ami siIty.nins ysars. Some historians
dispute these biographies on the ground
that tue accounts are tingsd with allsso-
ry-that the reported agss Of the patr.
archs are really the number Of years
that their tribes or clans existed. Be
that a. Ii may. the longevity Of man fell
rapidly after the dsluss. We are told
that Father Abraham died at . hundrsd
and ssvsniy-hvs. and that Joseph gave
up the ghost at . hundred and ten.
Statistics taken BY civilized nations In
late times show that the average life Of
man IL amenabls 10 certain hxsd and in.
scrutabls laws. In countries where the
people are intelligent aud civilized. hav-
ing the full enjoyment of their liberties
and possessed Of sufficient wealth to
supply tho n.~csssaries OF life. the dura-
tion il greatest : on the other hsed.
whor, poverty. ignorance and despotsin
reign. tho standard 10 the lowest. In
England. tho average term OF life Is
,hirty.a,s years. Persons who once
reach maturity attain u better average
than this. however. Some physiolo-
gists are Of the opinion that under
proper influences mans average life ean
be extended to u hundred years instead
Of the three score ami ten spoken Of In
the Bible. Some one has figured from
observations on the average life Of dif-
fsrent animals that the total duration OF
lie should 10 Ave times the time re-
auired 10 reach maturity. As man fully
attains his growth at twenty. he should
reach the hundred year standard. in &C.
corJance with this principle.
DIR. Jarvis. one Of the most reliable
authorities on this subject. says that the
average duration Of lie among the most
favored classes OF the Romans was
thirty years. between 100 and 500 A. D..
while the sams elass In the present
century will average Atty years. lie
also says that now as many men live to
be seventy years OLD as three esnturi''
ago reached forty-three. In 1903 the
British Government officials borrowed
money on the Tontins plan and gained
by II. A century later the average long
svity had 10 increased that they became
losers BY IL and had to raise their rates.
by . knowledge Of anatomy. physics
ami chemistry. medical men have &C.
complished what would have been
deemed miracles In ancient times. Iu-
juries and diseases that formerly would
have proved fatal are now almost in-
varisbly successfully treated. Small
pox. the most loathsome disease has
sssn shorn Of nine tsnths Of its victims
by Jsnnsr's system Of vaccination
cholera 10 prevented by sanitary meas
urss. and aver yellow fever. in It's origin
aud progress. has been brought under
law. Mans knowledge and practice Of
the laws Of health have much to do with
the p~rolongivity Of the race. Herbert
Spencer il right in putting physiology
among the FIRST studies Of the ehild''
curriculum.
When w shall learn to properly care
for our bodies ; whom mothers shall
know the real bodily rsqui smsnts OF
their children /; when thoss who have
tho preparation Of food and clothing ara
governed by wisdom and discipline In
the school OF health ; when governments
~. .u....,,p;,,.., !, go,
-. -. IN,
-, -.
~
disease. our physicians Of to-day are