The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-01-10
CHANGES OF OLD AGE.

Suggested
In the study of living forms, from tbs
protoza to the mammals, and from the
prototypes to the seed plants, we fine
certain changes and conditions charac
teristic of old age. In the human sub
ject the principal changes which We
note are atrophic and degeneratlve ir
their nature. The muscles and glands
are the parts more especially involved
in senile atrophy, although other soft
parts are affected to some extent. There
is a diminution in size of the cellular
elements, though without involving any
essential change in their structure. The
muscular fibres become small and are
said to take on more uniformity of size
While the spleen and Emphatic glands
undergo a remarkable diminution In
weight and size, which increases as ags
advances. There Is also some shrinking
in volume Of the glandular structures
of the digestive tract. Wherever fat has
accumulated it gradually wastes away
1t is said that atrophy begins to take
place before degeneration commences
Elementary and fatty infiltration of the
elements are common, as are also CAL
careous demonstrations. AS an instance
VI lilC iONotlOll VI llllS Lally dG6SiACAo
ton, muscular fibres, both voluntary
and Involuntary might be mentioned.
1t is also found in blood vessels, es-
pecially the terminal arteries Of the
brain, and to some extent in the nerve
cells and in the parenchyma of glandu-
lar organs. Elementary infiltration, it
is claimed, is not so frequently met
with as Is fatty inf1ltration. In the
pineal gland, in ligaments, carriages,
tenders, and the walls of arteries cal
careous deposits are common. In the
brain and spinal cord the neuroglia in
creases until 1t frequently predominates
over the nervous element, and there is
a tendency to the disposition of amyla-
ceous bodies in these parts The fatty
elements of the brain are diminished,
while the water and phosphorus are in
creased In quantity
The height and weight Of the body on
account of these changes are diminish
| ed, the body as whole being shorter
and lighter, while its individual parts
! are also lessened In size, with the ex-
ception Of the heart and kidneys. The
! heart as rule is hypertrophied while
the kidneys are at least the size they
were in middle life. Changes take place
In the skin, rendering 1t dry and wrin-
killed., the hair becomes thin and white,
the teeth drop out the body bends.
| These changes induce a general de-
crease in vigor; the power of the mus
cles is lessened; the combustion going
on in the body Is diminished, as is
shown by a decrease in the amount of
carbonic-acid gas exhaled. The vital
capacity of the lungs is decreased, al
though there is a quickening of the re-
spiratory rhythm. The pulse rate rises,
the secretions are diminished, and the
quantity of urine is less. Such, briefly
stated, are some of the characteristics
of old age. This period of life is more
liable to certain diseases, as those due
to arterio-s cerosis to certain forms of
rheumatism and govt, and so on.
What produces these changes in the
body which drag us down to the grave?
Is there no way to retard or prevent
them? If we could obviate them even
in a measure, how great would be the
benefit, and with what rejoicing would
the earth's inhabitants hail the discov-
cry, especially those among them who
have begun to enter the shadows which
gather about life's evening. In the cycle
rial world revolves, from the organic
through which a portion of the mate
to the inorganic, from the living to the
dead and back again to the living, it
would appear that, as old age APP
proaches, the material of the animal
body takes on more and more the ma
ture of the inorganic and becomes more
and more akin to the mineral world
When an idividual starts In life he APP
pears to be endowed with a certain
power or ability to maintain his status
in the highly organized animal world
and to resist largely the tendency of his
tissues to become in their chemical ma
ture more nearly akin to the mineral
kingdom.
What this power consists in l do not
know, but 1t seems to be greatly i'm
paired by age. Now, If by introducing
into the body certain agents which
might render the excess of accumulat-
ing mineral matter more soluble, so
that it could be more easily eliminated
from the body we might get rid of one
element that contributes largely to the
deterioration and degeneration that
come with old age. Again. all animal
and vegetable tissues when young pos
toward the changes that take place in
sentility. Then, why would it not be a
feasible and rational idea for those who
are approaching the period Of life when
senile changes begin to make their ap-
pearance to take as nourishment only
the tissues Of young animals and vege-
tables, and thereby supplement their
waning power of resistance with that
of those organisms which contain it in
abundance? And also, as we now have
a process of treating certain diseased
conditions of different organs of the
body with the products of the CORE
pondlng organs of animal bodies, land
believe with some success.) why could
benefit not be derived by administering
the quintessence of the organs Of young
and healthy animals to those whose
bodies are beginning to show the eff
fects of age, and in that way furnish
them artificially with the power to re-
sist the encroachments of time? Two !
or three times year, for instance, we |
might administer this trea tment for a |
week or two at a time, and who can
say that We might not retard in this |
way the capture of llfes citadel by the |
king of the glass and scythe ?---Albert |
SaltZ in the Medical Record.
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