The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-02-15
LONGEVITY OF THE JEWS.
Reasons Why They Overcome Their
Apparently Unfavorable Surround

| INedsoHS why Iney OVERCOME LHeli
Apparently Unfavorable Surround
ings.
| From time immemorial physical Wig
or has been considered a sine qua non to
longevity. The races that distinguished
for their aggressiveness, their physical
prowess and valor have in the main
been people Injured to hard manual la
Dor. 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 English
man Of to-day is to his national pas
times of cricket and racing, or the Ger
man to his fencing. The Teuton of the
nineteenth century in physical develop
ment surpasses all other races and
rules the world. He is what some one
has dubbed a masculine race. He is on
the whole long lived race, He works
with his hands, with his body, with his
legs and with his brain: in fact, ha
works altogether. He is not apt to
stunt one portion Of his physical make
up TO aid in developing another por-
ton. In his normal condition he is 4
country dweller, and despises the town.
In contradistinctlon 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 vlgor, II
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 dweller,
and betrays an inherent dislike for hard
manual labor or 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 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 longevi-
ty, 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 sur
round the mass of the Hebrew popula-
ton the world over, and especially in
the large cities Of America, where they
form a large percentage OF the popula-
ton, the death rate among the Jewish
inhabitants is but little over half of
that of the average American popula-
ton. Professor William z. Ripley in
his papers in the racial geography Of
Europe in 1.-THE Popular Science Month
ly" discusses this question very ably
and very fully. He states that If two
groups of one hundred infants each, one
Jewish and one Of average American
be born upon the same day.
of the Americans will die with
in forty-seven years, while the first half
of the Jews will not succumb to disease
before the expiration Of seventy-one
years According to Lombroso of one
thousand Jews born, two hundred and
seventeen die before the age of seven
years, while four hundred and fifty
three 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 for some
IF the discrepancy but on this very ac-
count they should be more liable 10 ep-
idemic and other disease This is not
true however. They show an
small proportion Of deaths
from consumption and pneumonia,
which are responsible for the largest
proportion of deaths among the Ameri-
can population. Professor Ripley as
oribes their immunity from this, as well
as from some other diseases, to the ex-
cellent system of meat inspection pre-
scribed by the Mosaic law. Hoffman
says that in London as much as one
third of the meats offered for sale are
rejected as unfit for consumption by the
Jews.
Probably the temperate habits for
which the Jews as race are noted will
account to some extent for the longevi-
". The Jew is temperate in almost all
hat he does in all that he eats, and in
all that he drinks. He is seldom addict
ed to the Incorporate use of alcoholic