The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1888-03-28
NO ONE NEED DIE.

NO ONE NEED DIE.
DR.. Ha1nmond's Plan for Living Forever
A Startling but Plausible Theory--Lifa a
Process of Death and Restoration.
DR.. William A. Hammond, the emil
nent physician, furnishes the following
to the Washington Post:
People die through their ignorance of
the laws which govern their existence
and also from their inability or indispo-
ation to obey those laws with which
they are acquainted. We are told in the
first chapter OF Genesis that before
Adam ate the forbidden fruit the life of
man was to be eternal. But with the
acquisition of the knowledge of good
and evil death became his portion. It
seemed to me that it would be more in
accordance with the actual state of
affairs at the present time to believe that
his death, came through the loss of
knowledge rather than from his obtain
ing it, for now he loses his life not
through an excess of knowledge but
through an excess of ignorance.
I do not see that there is any physio-
logical reason why even at the present
day man should die. From knowledge
of the causes of disease greater than that
possessed fifty years ago, and from the
advance Of medical science leading to
better methods of treating the deviations
from the normal standard of health to
which we are subject, the life cf gen.
Grafton has within the period mentioned
been heightened five or six years. That
is, the average man instead of living
thirty years, as he did fifty years ago,
now lives nearly thirty-six years. Look
ing at the question from this standpoint
only it will be seen that it is merely a
question OF time when bis life will be
extended to thousands OF years, and that
with an eternity of time his life will also
be eternal.
Let us take one aspect of the subject
and We shall not, think, fail to perceive
that when we thoroughly understand it
and are willing to live in accordance with
its requirements, death, unless by acci-
dent, Will cease to exist.
we know that this life is continued
through the death of the various atoms
of the several tissues that enter into the
composition of his body. His organs
are kept in action by force and tits force
results as does ali other force from the
metamorphosis of matter. Thus to OBJ
tain heat We burn wood or coal, and
ashes and gases are evolved in this
process; to generate electricity we con-
vert zinc or some other metal into q salt
through the action of an acid and elec-
tricity is set free. In the body, the
brain, the heart, the liver, the muscles
all act through the destruction or rather
alteration of the substance of which they
are composed. With every thought that
enanates from the brain, with every
emotion which it feels, with every act of
the will which it originates, with every
perception which it experiences, GER
tain portion of the central tissue is
broken down into simpler substance and
through various channels is excreated
from the body. With every pulsation
that the heart makes some part Of the
organ, though small it may be in
amount, is destroyed, and is cast out OF
the system to make room for new sub
stance. With every contraction of
muscle, no matter how small, from the
effort required to WELD the heaviest
kind of a sledge hammer to that neces-
sary to lift a pin OF crook finger or
wink an eyelid, muscular tissue dies, and
being no longer fitted for the purpose
for which it was formed, is taken up by
the veins and like that coming from the
brain and heart and the lungs and tho
stomach and all the other organs which
serve the purposes Of the body, is gotten
rid of through the kidneys and the skin
and the respiration to be reformed out
side of the system into other substances
which in their turn make the food by
which the body is again nourished.
The food that man takes into his
stomach ought to be of such quantity
and quality as would exactly repair the
losses which, through the action of the
several organs, his body is to undergo.
If it is excessive in either of these direc-
tions, or if it is deficient, disease of some
kind will certainly be the result: Ii he
knew enough to be able to adjust his
daily food to the expected daily require
ments Of his system, disease could never
ensue through the exhaustion OF any one
of his vital organs. A large majority Of
the morbid affections to which he is sub
iecs are due to lack of this knowledge.
Suppose, for instance, that man on
rising in the morning should say to him
self, ''To-day I have to read ten pages
of sBlackstone's Commentaries twenty
pages Of Don Quixote,' to walk three
miles and half, to pay visit of half an
hours duration to my grandmother and
to take my sweetheart to the theatre
where I shall spend two hours; to do
this require (taking out his pencil and
memorandom book as he speaks) so
much carbon, SO much nitrogen giving,
of course, the exact weight OF these
several elementary substances.) can
get chose precise quantities from eight
ounces of bread, four ounces of eggs,
eight ounces of beef, six ounces of pota-
toes, four ounces of fish, half pint OF
beef soup, eight ounces OF water and
eight ounces Of strong coffee to make