The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-07-16

But even if you could find
out all this, don't you see there
would be other diric1ltiesl Suppose you
had taken your daily supply Of food to do
a days work according 70 the programme
we have laii out. You start for your mile
walk and a bulldog cnases you two miles
out of your way; you see your plan IS ali
upset You have eaten only enough muscle
food 70 walk a mile, then a bull
dog chasing you might be fatal There
might be hundred circumstances
during the day that would destroy your
longevity plans.
But If Just the amount and kind Of food
necessary , a certain amount AID kind OF
work I'D be found and measured, aud if
q person could eat just enough and the
right Xxi OF food to Do the wo K he does, l
d. not think there is any doubt that he
cOu d proiOng his life indefinitely. Some
day medical science VIII be far enough Hd-
vauced 10 make this possible, and then pee
ple VINO are not exposed 20 unexpected ex-
critic can prolong their lives far beyond
the age reached by old people now, II not
indef itey.
But this tale Of an elixir of life is all
bosh. There caUnot be any such hing l
do OF think DR.. Brown-Ssquard would
descend to anytli ike chariatenism, but
is sort Of tllng Is notEing else. l should
rather think that if the st ry were true,
which | doubt, il is the result of the wander
log speculations of a old man IN hi
dotage. Or. Brown Sequard Is a man of
TOO great klowl dye and OK Jerience and too
thorO Oh a student to take up such an idea
as that indicated in newspaper stories-an
idee tnao the yeriest tyro would recognize
at once as chImericaL
Probably eve since here study of medi
cine began people have then pretending to-
find "a elixir OF Life The philosophers ito Q
and the elixir of life used 10 90 hand in
hand. Medical history is full Of accounts
of operations Of charlatans who pretended
TO have discovered al elixir Of life. One
very successful one was a Dr.. Graham. He
graduated in Edinburgh, and opened a
magnificent house in London he called the
Palace Of Health. He delivered lectures on
longevity ana preservation at a gui ca
apiece, a d sold a preparation that he
claimed would enable any one TO live for
ever for 81 600. Many noblemen
were bis patrons. But DR.. Graham died
when he was 81 years old.
in all ages and all countries there have
been impostors with elixiis of life. This
idea of making the elixir Of parts Of human
or animal bodies is going away back into
the dark ages, when me .icine made IF hu-
man skeletons W supposed to be If especial
efficacy. If there Is any part Of the human
body, or of an animals body, that has any
med cinal virtue, it has not been discovered
yet"
Would the infusion of blood from the
body of a strong, healthy person into the
veins of a weak or Ill person prolong the
life of the latter7"
CURES FOR OLD AGE.
Not a bit No permanent good could be
done by any such an operation. This pro-
lon ing life by medicines is all bosh. But
, OH u h. -
amusing sometimes Here is an old English
book of Cures for Old Age Lord Francis
Bacon wrote large part Of it. In his cure
he enume ates gold, pearls, emeralds and
o.her p. ecious stones as etficacious for the
cure Of old agt. But he says the bezo
stone and unlcoru's horn have lost credit
with US as Of value In prolongi z life A
large part of this book is by Ffiar Bacon,
who died in 1899. During his life he wa.
imprisoned for magic and witchcraft He
says the following ingredients form
sure cure for old age: Gold, coral,
rosemary, the bone Of a stays breast,
alocs wood and part of a snake In
The Code of Health, by Sir John Sinclair,
printed in 1901 Is recipe for an elixir of life
used extensively by S edish doctor. BY
its use he doctor lived to be l04 years old
and other members OF his family to be over
100 Tho elixir is made as follows: OAe
oullC6 anu oht ui'tiu VI sugar VI hlOeS, Oilo
dram of zadoria, one dram of gentiana,
one dram IF saffro from the Levant, one
dram of fine rhubarb, and one dram of
therlaqua of Venlce. The elixir was said
to have "onderful efficiency in prolonging
life. Really it has very slight medicinal
properties, if ~. Hoffman, a cele rated
French d Or, was also the discoverer of an
elixir of life that was famous. 'Hoffman's
Mixture prescription of some old doc
N,,e e ,,,1iA -, . 10
aud is uften prescribed. There have been
lots of these elixrs made of all so is of odd
things. They were rife when alchemy and
magic we're rife, and hen the doctors we
astrologists and theos lphi,ts. Even in
more modern years there have been So
called elIxirs Of life. and quacks have be-
come rich OH their sale"