Daily camera., 1897-02-24
CHANCES OF LIFE OF OLD MEN.
Science Says Age Is No lore Disease
Than Childhood.

Than Childhood.
DR.. Adolph Bloch read q paper the
other day before the Paris Society of
Anthropology, in which he ridicuIed the
theory that old age is a disease, con-
tending that it is no more a disease than
childhood. With precautions an old
man is no more exposed TO maladies
than is a younger man, provided he has
not taxed his strength too heavily.
1t is difficult to say at what period of
life old age arrives. There are many
causes that bring on precocious SEN
ility. Sometimes one man is very old al
30, and another presents all the attri1-
utes Of a second youth at so. It is more
logical to describe old age as that period
in life during which man dies natural
ly, if he does not succumb to malady
or an accident. Very few old men, as a
matter of fact, die of disease, however
strange this may appear. y great many
of them drop off from simple exhaus-
ton, without leaving the least trace of
any malady. No doubt, there are mala-
dies that attack old men, such, for in
stance, as congestion of the brain, IN
flammation of the lungs, and arteriaI
atheroma, that is to say, a degree of
thickness, more marked in the tunics OF
the arteries, which become as solid and
brittle as piPestems. Many deaths of
old people are attributed to these causes,
but we must not forget that they do not
suffice to explain all. Bichat came
- !, L Il
die in detail, and continue to die until
the day when we cult this earthly scene
altogether.
DR.. Bloch shares the ideas of Bichat,
and he cites statistics to prove that they
are not wrong. He secured from NJ.
Jacques Bertillon the Partisan record
of the deaths from seniiity of both men
and women during a period of II years,
taking the age of go as the average.
From these figures it appears that NOR
tality among old people is greatest be
tween the ages of so and 85, while it
diminishes suddenly from the 9Oth year.
That is to say, the malady takes light
er hold upon an old person who has
reached that age and passed the critical
period named above. In other words,
an old person who reaches 80 without
accident has good chance of becoming
a centenarian and dying Of old age only.
The deaths Of old people in whom no
disease can be discovered are always
put down in statistics under the name of
senile debility, senile exhaustion, senile
cacheXy, and senility. Now, the natural
death through senility is not known,
according to DR.. Bloch. 1t has some
times been noticed among old people in
the hospital of Sainte-Perine, but the
anatomical examination in most cases
revealed no defect, and it was natura!
to come to the conclusion that death
was due to progressive weakness.
Mortality among the old is variable,
according to the periods of the year. It +,
is highest during the winter months, !;
at all being assisted by pneu
monia. 1t is also variable according to |
localities, as can be proved by consult
ing the statistics of the departments of |
France. There are some regions where
men live longer than they do in others.
For instance, Yonne and Gironde are
favored in this matter.
How this is nobody can tell, but it is
fact duly observed.-N. Y, Sun.