Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-05-15
How to Attain Old Age.

The Psalmist David allowed seventy
years as tbe- natural duration. of lie,
Pythagoras placed the limit at eighty.
Londohs hIgienic Phjlosopher DR..
Richardson, gives us ten more, while
Flourens believed that man ought to
live opAhundred years. azx 49, -.
TfEreis mo- donhE that the physio-
logical Amt of human life hal. been
slightly increased III the puesenf CEN
turysand hnndred years Iatersit may
be found that old aye comes On sill
morasslowly and gently. e.
The physiological chemist tells us
that after the age of forty or forty-five,
imilatiop graduAliy begins TO .ex-.
kceed assimilation. and che structures sof
! The abody-4slowiyA.wasteA MUSCLE and.
nerve, which are the master tissues. -
feel this first. The dynamic coetIicient
Of both striped and unstriped muscle
decreases after forty; the limbs becomes
less less supple,sand the hollow viscers
have a feebler expulsive force; the
nervous system is less sensitive and
plastic impulses travel between center,
and periphery with more difficultys
The indRidnal loses 8spontaneify, and
becomes more automatic, more q crea-
ture of determined habits.
The lower tissues also undergo I'M
flergo very marked and characteristic.
changes. The sfiBrinsfactors Of the
blood increase in amount, the bones be-
come adrier, the scartilages ossify, and
thesarteries especially become the seat
of fatty degenerate and calcareous
I Dr. Hcharasons ssnnpo,snced shats ..his
experiments show" that the colloidsia
natter (protoplasm?) of the body in
old age contains less water, and that
It's particles are consequence more CO.
Iesive. It's true. at any rate that the
tbtal amoant Of Waterw in the body is,
less. - q -
L. The essential fact as regards senile
lch an9es Is that the meta bolic junction
is weakened. Consequently the food,
instead of being. built up into good it's
Isne, is oxidszed into less complex sub
stances. The protoplasm turns out s,t
instead of new protoplasm, the circula-
tory apparatus becomes weaker, the
blood stagnates. carbonic id preeipi--
tates. and earthly salts, which is kept
IN solution, are deposited.
Now, certain recent philosophers
fave thoug GIT that by preventing these
iatty and calcareous changes, old age
could be delayed. A Swiss physician,
"a few years ago argued that lemons.
l. e., citric acid, would accomplish this
end, and saw immortality in lemonade,
More reeenty,sa writer in Knoacie .ge,,
Mr.. W.aO. Dawson, has presented 3
new regimen sani:ness, which he ciaiins
is the most rational and certain means
Of retarding old age. 1t consists in
avoiding all food rich in earthly. salts,
+ : = Il l.. 49,. -
bler-fuls Of distiIled water with ten or
fifteen drops of dilute phosphoric acid
in each glassful. The food freestf of
earthly salts is. fruits, fish, and poultry,
young mutton and veal.
We can test ~ with Mr. Dawson that
this kid Of diet Is harmless, but We
are profoundl yskeptlca@ Sas to- its Elf
cheney.
Old age is part Of the life history of
the. organism. There is that in the
nearly when old age. shall appear.
.senilty is as failure Of nutritio4. We
sscan only delay its appearance BY living
. life which puts M undue strain on the
organism, and by furnishing it with the
easiest means of working. We can not
expect to accomplish this end simply,
by cutting off Ger ain 'deleterioas sup
plies. If one would live long, let him
especially take care of his .'master It's
sues'-the muscle and nerve-when
young. This means rational exercise of
body and a we'll balanced cultivation of
mind. Brain workers live long, brain
and muscle workers longer still. No
one has yet given better advice for the,
retaryling of old age than did Christie,
phers Hufeland. a century ago. Yet.
those who wish old age study him, and
put no trust in distilled water.-Meai
. cal Record. - g.