The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-08-19
WHY JEWS ARE LoNG-LIvED.
Indoor Occupations and Temperate
Lives Favor the Race.


From time immemorlal physical vigor
hes been considered a sine qua non to
longevity. The races that distinguished
I themselves in the history OF the world
for their aggressiveness, their physical
prowess and vaior have In the main been
/ people Injured to hard manual labor, out
of-door exercise. and Sctive modes OF liy-
ing The Greeks Of old were as assiduous
in their devotion to their sports and games
as the Englishman of today is 70 his ma
tiOnal pastimes Of cricket and racing or
the German to his fencing. The Teuton
Of the nineteenth century in physical de-
velopment surpasses all other races and
rules the world. He is on the whole a
lonE-lived race. He works with his hands,
with his body. with his legs, and with his
brain; in fact he works altogether. He is
not apt to stunt one portion Of his physical
makeup to aid in developing another por-
tion. In his normal condition he is a coun-
try dwelier and despises the town.
In contradistinction to the Teuton, let US
consider the Jew, and We speak now Of the
masses. Physically, he is poorly develop
ed. Centuries of oppression have stamped
out his physical yigor, il not his vitality.
The European Jew is understood, and
markedly so. His mental vigor, however
is unimpaired and probably on the whole
is superior TO his neighbours. He is a city
for hard manual labor or for physical ex-
ercise or exertion in any form. He is
ayerse to out-of-door sport. He prefers to
live by his brain rather than by his mus
Gle. His chest capacity is limited, and he
possesses many other features Of physical
daEGneracy. In fact, his physical makeup
is what one would expect to find in a
short-liyed man. And here is surprising
feature.
long considered as necessary TO longevity,
the Jew is probably the longest lived of
any race Of people now in existence. His
tenacity Of life is remarkable. In spite of
the social conditions which surround the
mass of the Hebrew population the world
over. and especially in the large cities of
America where they form a large per-
centage Of the population, the death rate
among the Jewsish inhabitants is but lit
tie over half of that of the average Ameri-
car population. Prof. William r. Ripley. in
his papers on the racial geography Of Eu-
rope in the Popular Science Monthly"
discusses this question very ably and very
fully He states that If two groups of 100
infants each. one Jewish and one Of aver
age American parentage. be born upon the
same day, one-half OF the Americans will
die within forty seven years, while the
first half OF the Jews viii not succumb to
disease before Inc expiration OF seventy
one years
According TO Lombroso, Of .0o0 Jews
born 217 die before the age OF seven years,
while 453 Christians, more than twice as
many. are likely to die within the same
period.
The immunity Of the Jewish population
from accident on account of their indoor oc-
eupation will account for some OF the dis
crepancy. but on this very account they
should he m:-e liable TO epidemic and other
disease. This is not wholly true, however,
They show an sbnormally small proportion
Of deaths from consumption and pneumo-
mia, which/are responsible for the largest
proportion Of deaths among the American
population. Prof. Ripley ascribes their i'm
muntty from this, as well as from some
other diseases. to the excellent system OF
meat inspection prescribed by the Mosaic
law. Hoffman says that in London as
much as one-thfrd the meats offered for
sale Is reiected as unfit for consumption
by the Jews.
Probably the temperate habits for which
the Jews as a race are noted viii account
to some extent for the longevity The
Jew Is temperate In almost all that he
does. in ell that he eats, and in all that
he drinks. He is seldom addicted to the
Incorporate use of alcoholic liquors He
abstains from certain varieties OF meat. and
those OF the richer and more heating kind.