Evening journal., 1900-02-24
LONGEVITY OF THE JEWS
PARENTLY UNFAVORABLE SUR
ROUNDINGS.

AANA-N Ii JANr "A UNABLE DOtl-
ROUNDINGS.
From time immemorial physical
vigor has been considered a sine qua
non to longevity. The races that dis
tinguished themselves in the history
Of the world for their aggressiveness,
their physical prowess and valor have
in the main been people Injured to hard
manual labor, Out-of-door exercise and
active modes of living. The Greeks
of old were as assiduous in their de-
votion to their sports and games as
the Englishman of today is to his ma
tional pastimes of cricket and racing,
or the German to his fencing. The
TeutOn of the nineteenth century in
physical development surpasses all
other races and rules the world. He
is what someone has dubbed a mascu-
line race. He is on the whole a long
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 develop
ing another portion. In his normal
condition he is a country dweller 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
developed. Centuries Of oppression
have stamped out his physical vigOr, If
not his vitality. The European Jew is
understood and markedly so. His men
tai vigor, however, is unimpaired, and
probably on the whole is superior TO
his neighbOr. He is a city dweller and
betrays an inherent dislike for hard
manual labor or for physical exercise
or exertion in any form. He is ayerse
to out-Of-door sport. He prefers to live
by his brain rather than by his muscle.
His chest capacity is limited, and he
possesses many other features Of physi-
cal degeneracy In fact, his physical
makeup is what one would expect to
find in a short-lived man, And here is
a surprising feature.
Possessing so few Of the elements so
long considered as necessary to longev-
ity, the Jew is probably the longest
lived of any race Of people now in ex-
istence His tenacity Of life is remark
able. In spite of the social conditions
which surround the mass of the He
brew population the world over, and
especially in the large cities of Amer
lea, where they form a large percent
age Of the population, the death rate
among the Jewish inhabitants is but
little over half of that of the average
American population. Professor VIII
liam u. Ripley in his papers on the
racial geography of Europe in the Pop
ular Science Monthly discusses this
question very ably and very fully. He
states that if two groups of 100 infants
frh Of
American parentage, be born upon the
same day one-half of the Americans
viii die within AZ years, while the first
half of the Jews will not succumb tC
disease before the expiration of II
years According to Lombroso. of l.
600 Jews born, 217 die before the age OF
years. while 453 Christians. more
than twice as many are likely to die
within the same period.
The immunity of the Jewish popula-
ton from accident on account. of their
indoor occupation, will account fol
some of the discrepancy. but on this
very account they should be more liable
to epidemic and other disease. This is
not wholly true, however They show
an abnormally small proportion o.
deaths from consumption and pneu
monia, which are responsible for The
largest proportion of deaths among thu
American population. Professor Rip
ley ascribes their immunity from this
as well as from some other diseases. e
the excellent system of meat inspection
prescribed by the Mosaic law. Hom
man says that in London as much al
one-third of the meats offered for sal,
are rejected as unfit for consumption
by the Jews.
Probably the temperate habits fo
which the Jews as race are noted will
account to some extent for their longev
ity. The jew is temperate in almos
all that he does, in all that he eats an,
In all that he drinks. He is seldom ad
dicted to the Incorporate use OF alco
holic liquors. He abstains from certail
varieties of meat and thtse of the rich
er and more heating kind so that hi
frugal diet, his temperate use Of liquors
his abstinence from certain food
which are unwholesome. account 70
his remarkable freedom from Bright
disease and diseases Of the liver, whicl
are largely diseases Of intemperance
To sum up, the Jew, In spite of his ply
sical condition and social surroundings
and by reason of his temperance an
sobriety, HIS frugality and his free
dom from accident, contrives, on tn
average, to live nearly twice as lonl