Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1896-05-28

Dr. A. Leonidas Johnson has for many years devoted his entire attention to the study of the puzzling question, Why do men grow old so fast and die before their time?
 For ten years, he said, "T have been making experiments upon this sub ject.
 It is known that gray hairs, bald heads and the general debility which comes with cid age are produced by an excess of lime deposited ill the system. That being the case, the substitution of distilled water for the ordinary water that is used for food should eliminate this lime from the system. But it does not And while making further re- searches to discover why this scheme failed l discovered a microbe peculiar to these lime deposits. This, fully be- lieye, is the microbe of old age. y
 This, in brief, is the outline of Dr. Johnsen's discovery. Scientific research has demonstrated the fact that the chief characteristics of old age are deposits of earthly matter of a gelatinous and fibrin- ons character i'll the human system. Carbonate and phosphate of lime mixed with other calcareous salts have been found to form the greater part of these earthly deposits
 This caleareous matter produces par tial justification of the heart and the walls of the arteries, thus causing inn perfect circulation, and, as natural consequence. interfering with nutrition.
 Vegetables abound ill life destroying, caleareous deposits. Bread should be called ''the staff of death. instead of "the staff of life" It greatly assists in the deposit of ealcareous matter Con- mon salt is baneful Spring water is al- so prescribed
 Medical men the world over agree on most Of these points with the assertions of Dr. Johnson. The hardening of the bones Of the body, the stiffening of the muscles and arteries, the loss of elas- ticity of the tissues, are proportionate with the calcareous deposits. And again, it is quite true that meats, vegetables and even spring water all contain cal careous matter i'll varying proportions.
 In other words, nearly all human food carries into the human system the seeds of old age This is not very cheerful thing to contemplate, but is a physiolog- ical fact from which we have no es- cape.
 Now, Dr. Johnson comes forward with the positive assertion that he be- lieves he has found the little living germ which comes into the body in food and finds its way into our bones and muscles and fibers.
 We know how the germs of cholera, of scarlet fever, of dozen other dis eases, reach us. The scientist has hunt ed each individual microbe down, has photographed him and i'll many in- stancee discovered what will kill him.
 Now, will Dr. Johnson or Mir Edi- son or somebody else turn his attention to the microbe of old age and find out what will kill him and drive him out of the human body? Did Methusaleh of old and the other characters of Bible history live before the microbe of old age came into existence, or did the long lived Scriptural heroes know the antidote for the calcareous germ?
 In book entitled ''The Possibility of Living Two Hundred Years, the author Frank c. Ravens of Oakland, Gal, recognizes these facts and pre- scribes the following as the best means of preventing the accumulations of lime:
 Mixed with diluted phosphoric acid distilled water is the most efficacious and least harmful of anything to dis solve ossifie matter deposited ill the body. Three tumblerfuls of distilled water, with about 10 orl15 drops of di- luted phosphoric acid iii each glassful, is recommended to be taken daily. The rational mode to keep physical decay and deterioration at bay is shown to be to avoid all foods rich ill earth salts and to consume much fruit, especially juicy, uncooked apples, oranges, figs, dates and bananas. Beef and old mutton are overcharged with earth salts and should be avoided, but fish, poultry, young mutton, veal, milk, eggs, nuts, are among the edibles containing less of the earthly salts and are scientifically rec commended. Soup Is ostracized; so is or dinary coarse whole meal bread, which contains more actual waste than white bread and is not so thoroughly digest ed as white bread. Bread toasted Ill thin slices is better than any other kind. Toasting converts the starch into dex- trin
 All this points to the fact that in the process which we call growing old there is an element which physicians have not yet grasped. And in this light Dr. Johnson's claim is peculiarly inter esting. If there is such thing as ml- crobe of old age, there may some day be found means of destroying 1t. Then perhaps the dream of Ponce de Leon will come true, and every drug store that dispenses the medicine to kill the hate e..1 s.;o-<l,a of oId apa will beCOmG 6