The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-29
WHY SHOULD NEy DE,Jys
why May Not the self-iirpnirine tinr,,
Machine bs Kept Longer in Mnti,r,

To THE EDITOR OF THE suns. l,,..
| marks to-day on the reported discovery ",
| an elixir OF life by Prof Metchnikuir O., r,,,.
| suggest a theme for n discus sion hy yourc,.
| respondents which would be ot far nor. ,r,,
| tical value and OF Infinitely greater inte-s..
than any debate over the unicmous,ra,,,
| theory OF the immortality Of the soul" tn,
| question whether man lives hereafter . hevo,i
the power OF science to answer IInmatori,lr,,
after material death eau DO only mn mr., ola =,
religious faith or dream Of the imag natio,
No living man can over ind anything ahop,
Only the dead can know Of the future Iite !,
future life there In.
Consequently IL ia n hopeless theme Inn,
which to reason: II lies wholly within the Ia
main OF religion and OF the poetic imagi1a,lo,
and there Ia no arguing with them. But mi,
life 10 q fact OF dem onstration. We nil knovr
all experience II. II IL the one great fact. ari
the concern Of humanity in It Ia universal T.
then. Prof MetchnikofY or any other man a,
science can discover any means. any elixir b,
which that real and actual life can DO proserys,
from decay and death he will be the most 70,
nowned and the most blessed Of all the d,,
coverers OF history: every other discover will
be magnificent comparatively. for AL that,
man hath will he give for his life
Modern sanitary science has been directed, :,
warding of the causes Of disease. and IT, III.
umph. more specifically. has been in the dim
mutton ofthe death rate anon children undo,
years old. The advances in bacteriolocv ana
antiseptic surgery have also helped to savc lie.
Yet death remains. and II comes at comran.
lively carly age. man does not fully m .tIr,
until he Is Of forty years. yet most human
beings die before such maturity Is reached. A
centenarian IL a great novelty. and even wn.,
mems lives are prolonged much beyond eighty
years they usually are cracked vessels OF =,
mere existence Is about all that remains then,
the attractiveness OF life. consisting In con.
unued ability to use and make useful all N,
faculties. is gone from them. Oitentlmes as ",
the case OF Josiah Quincy when he had pissed
his ninetieth year. they are oppressed byA
sense OF loneliness and supe rfluity the,
whole generation having already passed fro,
the stage. When the poet Rogers. who lived
TO be so years. was once congratulated uro,
being hale and hearty" he growled out
there 10 no such thing as hale and hearty
old man; and the truth unquestionab'y Va,
with him. Greet age brings to him VII,
reaches It physical losses. the consciousness
which must be with him. He is a decay.
ing tree. and he feels the progress OF the 10.
cay. What he wants Ia not so much the length
eninE OF his years as the regeneration Of h,
vitality
May not this become possible7 And why
may II noti The human machine is sel'.re.
pairing. Why. then. may IL not be enahleit,
keep up the process far longer than now? Why
may not these natural forces OF repair D.
revived and stimulated by discovery yet 70 B.
made. so that the work shall 60 on far heyoni
the age at which 1t has been assumed life mus,
decay and die7 II q man IL not brought 1,
death by the accidental crushing out Of vitality
from the machine. why. with the inheritancso'
a good constitution. may he not be made 10
last for century and moro without falling int,
useless decrepitude'
These are questions which reason mny vel
ask. which science can consistently answer. hu,
neither reason nor science can penetrate into
the mystery which lies beyond the grave.
INV YoRK. Dec. %. SExAGESABIIy