The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-25
LONGEVITY OF THE JEWS.
why They Overcome Apparently I'm
favorable Surroundings.
From the Family Doctor.


From the Family Doctor.
From time fmmemorial physical vigor
has been considered a sine qua non to
longevity. The races that distinguished
themselves in the history of the world for
their aggressiveness, their physical Prov
ess and valor have in the main been peo-
pie Injured to hard manual labor, out-of-
door exercise and active modes of living.
The Greeks of old were as assiduous in
their devotion to their sports and games
as the Englishman of to-day is to his ma
tional pas times 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 what some one has
dubbed a masculine 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 al
together. He is not apt to stunt one por-
ton of his physical makeup to aid in de-
Veloping another portion. In his normal
condition he is a oountry dweller and de-
Spises the town.
In contradistinction to the Teuton let us
consider the jew, and we speak now of
the masses. Physically he is poorly de-
veloped. Centuries of oppression have
stamped out his physical vigor if 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 neighbors.
He is a city dweller, and betrays an iu-
herent dislike for hard manual labor or
l for physical exercise or eXertion in any
form. He is averse TO out-of-door sport
He prefers to live by his brain rather than
by his muscle. His chest capacity is linn
tied, and he possesses many other features
of physical degeneracy. In fact, his phys
| ical makeup is what one would expect to
| find in a short-lived man. And here is
| surprising feature.
Possessing so few of the elements so
| 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 Jewish inhabitants is but lit
| tie over half Of that of the average Amer
lean population Prof. William D. Ripley
| in his papers on the racial geography of
| Europe 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 A years, while the first
| half of the Jews will not succumb to dis
| ease before the expiration of II years. Ac-
! cording to Lombroso, of 1000 Jews born
| PIT die before the age of years, while 1853
Christians, more than twice many. are
| likely to die within the same period.
| The immunity of tine Jewish population
| from accident on account of their indoor
| occupation will account for 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 of deaths from consumption
| and pneumonia, which are responsible for
| the largest proportion of deaths among
| the American population. Prof Ripley
| ascrbes their immunity from this as well
| as from some other disease, to the excel
| lent system Of meat inspection prescribed
| by the Mosaic law. Hoffman says chat in
| London as much as one-third of che meats
| offered for sale are rejected a unfit for
consumption by the Jews.
Probably the temperate habits for which
| the Jews as "a race are noted will account
to some extent for their longevity The
| Jew is temperate in almost all that he
| does in all that he eats and in all that he
| drinks. He is seldom addicted to the in
| temperate use of alcoholic liquors. He alb
stains from certain varieties OF meat and
| those of the richer and more heating kind:
| so that his frugal diet, his temperate use
| of liquors his abstinence from certain
foods which are unwholesome, account for
| his remarkable freedom from Bright's dis
| ease and diseases of the liver, which are
! largely diseases OF intemperance. To sum
up the Jew. in spite Of his physical condi-
ton and his social surroundings, and by
| reason of his temperance and sobTiety. HIS
frugality and his freedom from accident.
| contrives. on the average, 10 live nearly
| twice as ,ong as his more careless and inn
| prudent neghbors.
Jones grumbles at cold weather."
| yes"