The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-05-02

T..
debility are not usually held to be desira-
BILE possessions. they are not objections
and might be even considered as recon-
mendations in papabili.
Debility, which in itself has been con-
sdered initial in more recent years of the
disease. may be a normal or quasi-nor-
NAL condition, as in the Pope's case. CT
cero's definition of old oge, "Senectus
morbus ipsa est" has not stood the test
of thousands of years, in which men and
women have reached 80, 95, 100 years or
over and then have suddenly finished the
dying process without a long final illness,
or sometimes without any illness at all,
or without any agony, such as people
usually have who die very suddenly or
after an exceedingly short Illness, because
their old age has reduced their resisting
power to a minimum. Life may hang by
a thread and may not snap for months
or even years keeping in allegiance the
fears Of friends and the aspiration of pa
pabiH
Among these Cardinal Rampolla, it is
urged. has tradition and precedent both
against him. Never l am informed, has
the Secretary of State of deceased Pope
become Pore himself as she direct imme-
date successor There is another reason
"a political one-why Cardinal Rampolla
might he eliminated from the list of papa
bill. 1t is this: He would be bound be-
forehand to continue the policy that at
present actuates the Vatican. not only in
ternally but as regards foreign relations,
and especially as regards the Italian Gov
eminent This ! have on very high
authority. Cardinal Rampolla. who has
the advantage of being comparatively
young-an advantage not enjoyed by the
papabili in general-will l have it on the
same authority stand a very good chance
in the future ConcIave. For the same rea-
son he will not be Secretary of State to
the new Pope.
His age brings us back to the question,
when does old age begin?' PROBES
sional cant has it that old age begins with
certain changes in The arteries It may
not be atheromatous, or a hardening ten
dency. although that is quite common as
old age comes on. But it is a change of
another kind, more generally, and per-
haps the most noteworthy of all senile
processes. 1t is a shrinking and diminu
ton of caliber and want of elasticity on
the internal coats of the smaller arteries,
those destined to the nutrition Of the diff
feTent organs whereby the blood supply,
which itself now contains less oxygen,
does not reach them in sufficient quanti
ties to strengthen them
The formation of CalCareOus patches by
description of the softer tissues is a con-
cOmitant of this process. The Pope has
them, as we have already seen. on the
aOrta- They are rather an appanage of
age in his case than symptoms of dis
ease.
These changes in the arteries in ordi-
nary cases begin at about IS and are first
felt in the radical and temporal arteries.
They become more marked as age ad-
vances, extending frequently TO the cere-
bral circulation, in which. as a conse-
quence Of any violent effort, or spontane-
ously, an artery may break, causing apo
plexy or one Of the different forms of
paralysis, and ultimately both.
The Pope is not in this class. Professor
Lapponi affirms that his Holiness has no
disease, nor is the Popes case one of
marasmus senilis. There is wanting that
complete drying up aud drawing Of the
skin that becomes yellow over the face.
His is rather a fiaccid skin, of a waxy,
ashy color, and his emaciatiOn. though
decided, is not so extreme as in marasmus
senilis.
The Pope has senile atrophy. His mus
cles are shrunken and fabby, his carti-
lagos are hardened and there is dimi-
mutton of all the humors of the body and
of the SynOVial fluid that facilitates the
easy working of the joints. He is, how
ever, more erect than would be expected
when we take into account the deficiency
of the muscles of the spinal column
which follows hardening of the ligaments
and the partial Justification of the inter
Vertebral disks which unite to form per-
manent curves in the backs Of old men.
The POpe's eyesight is very good. His
eyes show still considerable vitality.
They impart TO his face an expression of
pluckiness, although their luster is less
brilliant than it was ten years ago. The
changes that have taken place are chief
" in the crystalline lens. which in all
men of his age, like other transparent
apparatus of the eye, without actually
losing its limpidity and without actually
weakness of vision, Iefracts light imper-
fectly, thus producing what is known as
presbyopia. or farsi htedness, with cor
responding myopia, rendering glasses nee
eSsary for reading and all near work.
ARGUS senlls, on the border of his cOrnea,
is less marked than nave seen it. Oscil-
letion of the ocular globe is less active
and the pupils are small.
The functions Of the stomach, liver and
inteStints, though carried out normally,
are slow in action. The expansion of the
chest Is less fuller than formerly, owing
partly 10 an atrophic tendency of the pee
toral and intercostal muscles and to ten
dency TO Justification Of the costal cartiI-
ages.
The heart is another organ weakened in
toned, and to this weakness are to be
ascribed the sinking periods which
his Holiness has had, which, 1
a anG which e 'o ssRPtst danger dHg4
eXertion, mental or physical might pro-
duce or the influence of cold or of indi-
ScStlOIi OF any sudden SHOCK, having as z
direct immediate result syncope and
death. The atheromatous patches are in
no way responsible for these attacks. Al
though they are undoubtedly points of
weakness in the general circulation. they
will not shorten the Pope's life day.
With that one exception, the Pope s
weakness and his old age are normal, the
physiological processes, having begun
some thirty years ago, responding to
fatal, unavoidable changes in the inner
processes of organic life, which in his
case have proceeded all this time in a
uniform manner without shock to his sys-
TEN, which with just equilibrium has
adapted Itself to the atomical functional
changes due to his green old age, now
drawing TO a close. Men in his condition
may go out suddenly. like the extinguish-
ing of a candle, or live on and on until
they just fade away.
His Holiness is aware that sudden
death might overtake him at almost any
time. Not only is 1t far from uncom-
mon in such cases, but several of his own
family, the Peccis, with whom old age is
traditional have died suddenly Longevity
is bred in some families for generations
by kind Of natural selection, making the
heredity all the more firm and tenacious
II is so with the Peccis Going back to
Pope Leo's grandfather. he died at Sc
and II is told of the Pope that he is per-