The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1890-03-13
CHAPTER LYIII.
DISEASES OF OLD AGE.


A few years before the downfall of the First
Empire, tho Great Napoleon and his staff Off
GERS visited the battlefield of Tours, where the
army of the Caiph Abderahman maintained n
seven days skirmish against the allies of
Charles Martel.
Seven days2 Seems a pretty long time"
said Marshal Ney; but have noticed that the
real business of battle cannot be measured by
length of time An opportunity for one good
charge often makes more progress than whole
days manuvering."
A similar rule might be applied to an esti-
mate of cold age" Life cannot be measured
by length of years. In few months of mad
excess many follow hardly out of his teens
has reduced himself to a condition of senile
decrepitude, while numerous veterans of go
and 20 are still young in every essential sense
of the word. Some people manage to crowd
more life into a decade than others into CEN
fury. 1t makes me laugh to hear them talk
about Lord Byron dying young" says the critic
Boerne; "why, he has lived thousand years,
and in variety of experience probably had
much tho better of old Methusaah. Lots of
centenarians die before they have ever known
tho real meaning of life"
Others, however, have managed to reach
century without knowing the meaning of de-
crepitude. Luigi Cornaro a Venetian noble
man of the 10th century, was descended
from family of fast livers, most of whom had
his brother was getting baldheaded, and MOTTO
ing his own hair turning gray. Luigi formed
sudden resolve to strike into n new path of his
own, and by strict attention to natural hygiene
especially in the way of diotetic precautions
managed to reach an age of % years aud 10
months, without ever having been sick for
single day during the last 70 years Of his life.
Old age in our eastern cities begins at about
80 years of age; in Of the fast going Capt.
tails of western Europe at 40, in the vicecenters
OF Italy at 40 but in Norway only Mt 60, and in
certain parts Of the Austrian Alps rarely before
70. In the highlands of the western TyrOl /
once passed few weeks in n Summer camp of
health seekers who had built sort of taber-
nacle of logs and pine branches and one morn
ing decided to fell tree that had n dangerous
inclination toward the frail roof of their shanty.
rope was fastened to the upper branches of
tho tree and while four or five tou rists laid hold
of the other end "A fat young cook from Linz, in
| tho Austrian lOwlaud, undertook TO cut down
the tree ut the roots II was a tough white
oak, and after 10 minutes work the amateur
tree.cuttcr had to stop to pant for breath. Il
got through tho bark, anyhow" said he, point
| ing TO a circular cut some two or three inches
| deep. res. pretty good for a sapsucker Ia
| species of small woodpeckersl said an old
mountaineer who had watched our operations
| with q sly grin; let mo see that AK will ye ?"
and with 10 or IL well aimed strokes he had the
4
! to the rope pullers, and, changing his position,
| he brought down tho tree with single blow
| from the side opposite TO the direction of the
| shanty. Always cut n tree the deepest on
| the side you want IL TO drop he explained to
| thoastouishcd cook. How old are you, daddy"
asked ono Of the tourists. "Eighty-fye or Sc
! | amt sure which" said the old fellow, clam
hcriug up the slope to chop Off the boughs Of
| the fallen tree. His hair, though thin, was
| still of a mixed color - more black than
| gray-and his eycsigbt was excellent while
three Of our IL young tourists had 10 use spccta-
| cles. Marshal Butcher at 90 years OF ago was
still able TO pass whole dnv in the saddle: the
| navigator Bouganvile at 81 stuck TO the post Of
| danger on the quarterback in every ugly storm +;
| and Tonteuclis at 50 could read small print
| without the aid of glasses. In tho best period
| of the GreCian and Roman Republics many
| oetogenarians insisted on following the armies
| OF their native lands 10 the field and even tho
| Emperor Augustus once had an interview with
| centennaran who visited the gymnasium on
every sunny day in the year. and often tested
his wrestling tricks against the tactics of the
| young athletes. by what sort of recipe did
you preserve your vigor so remarkably" asked
the Emperor. Hitis muiso, foris olco ~ e. in
side by honey water, outside by oil ~, said the
| old fellow.
Ii has been noticed rs n curious fact that, on
| the whole, there are more old women than old
men, while nevertheless men have q better
chance to reach exceptionally old age, as a
proof IL would seem, that extreme longevity
can only be attained by ut.door exercise COM
| bincd with other hygicuc habits. Farmers
| outlivo artisans; scholars and boolworms, rs a
class, are not long lived, though few of them,
by alternating their indoor work with oeca-
sional work of country life, have managed to
reach a very advanced age. like Goethe Vol
| taire and Gladstone. On the whole. country
! air, temperance and reasonable freedom from
care appear to be the three chief conditions OF
| longevity.
SYMPTOMS OF pEcREFITUpE.