The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-26
PEOPLE WHO LIVE LONGEST.
Under Normal Conditions Longevity
Is as Apt TO BE Attained, as Inner
From Health Culture.

Long life Is not an accident. Ut is not
even an inhertance; for the inheritance
of physical vitality sufficient to make
centenarian may be dissipated in twenty
years of riotous living. The scion of
long-lived race may die early las he often
has of debility or wasting disease induced
by unhygienic living. On the other hand,
a small stock of vital force husbanded
carefully may often prolong life to
healthy and efficient oldsage.
A careful examination will show that
certain physical characteristics are usual
ly associated with longevity. Perhaps the
most noticeable of these is carriage. Nine
ty-nine out of ohe hundred people have
curvature of the spine. The octogenarian
is the hundredth man. His spine is a
straight line, his head erect his chest
broad and deep. This means that the vital
organs are properly supported by the at
tachments provided by nature, and that
they do not rest upon and crowd each
other The heart, lungs stomach, liver
and kidneys are thus enabled to do their
work unimpeded; and their activity in
providing food for the tissues and in re-
moving waste matter (Which is the prime
cause of disease) is a potent factor in
longevity. A large trunk, with legs short
in proportion, a straight spine and an
erect carriage are among the most obvious
characteristics of those who attain great
age.
Another characteristic, less evident to
the unframed observer, but equally im>
portant is the habit of slow. deep res
piration. The oxygen is the only real
food; for only the matter oxidized in the
system become tissue. Deep, fun BREATH
ing means an immensely increased amount
of oxygen ingested, and an equally aug
mated by the lungs. Mental quietude Is
essential to proper breathing. The ex-
cited men-the emotional indivldual-who
suffocates with joy. palpitates with en-
thusiasm, chokes with rage, gaspst with
establishment, signs from the intensity
of his attachments-the emotional indi-
Viduai by every inequality In his respra-
ton abbreviates his life.
Another physical characteristic of lon
gevity, most important of all and seldom
or never noticed. Is ease and repose OF
movement. The old person-the hale. Wig
orous, healthy old man-moves easily,
lightly, silently. He has always moved
that way. That's the reason he is here
now instead of with the others who. with
their gasps and signs their clinched
brows and twiring thumbs, their intense
emotions and little complaints, are gone
and forgotten. Ease of movement and
grace depend upon muscular relaxation.
Muscular relaxation is impossible except
when the mind Is tranquil,
A fourth popularity Of those who live
long is that they are invariably small
eaters. Commands die young. The octo-
genarian is always frugal. The enormous
physiological task of digesting and ex-
cretlng daily pounds of food not needed
BIB the organism is not performed by The
frugal eater; and so he has the more vi
tally to expend In thought, in working
and in living out his century. We live
not so much because Of what we eat
as because OF what we do not eat. Much
has been written on the subject of lon
gevity, but little that to-day posses any
beyond merely literary interest.
The influence of occupation OF climate,
Of stimulants, of location, of race and
breeding upon longevity open interesting
fields for discussion, but affect the mat
ter only indirectly.
To recaptulate: The four leading char
acteristics OF the individual who attains
longevity are large thorax, deep, full. SLOW
breathing muscular relaxation, and fru-
gal habits regarding diet.