The suburban citizen., 1901-06-08
LONGEVITY'S MYSTERY
SEEKING THE FORCE THAT CAUSES
ALL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY.

In paper read by DR.. Carleton ST.
mon, the President of the Hundred
Year Club, at its annual meeting, he
said:
Longevity depends upon 1, vital en-
tirety; ?, physical condition Of various
organs; 3, expenditures, physical, men,
tai and generatiye; 4, recuperation and
reparation.
The first, that Of vital entirety, or
the essential principle Of life, is n mys-
terry that requires solving. In the.
words of Huxley, it is the law Of ma
ture when working through organized
matter. 1t is not soul, for that is q
spiritual, intangible thing. Vital force
is material 1t is a condition and
priority that oveTeaches in Importance
all other studies. a great many sclen-
tlfic experiments have lately been un-
dertaken which may throw new light
upon this fascinating subject. We are
upon the eve, the threshold, OF mar
velous discovery that lays bare this
wonderful power that sits behind the
throne Of all physical activity.
To Illustrate this wonderful basic
principle Of life desire to call your at
tention to certain facts beyond dispu-
tation: In Liberty County, New York
State, short time ago, a gentleman
in digging for a well upon a hill dug
into thirteen feet of earth, when solid
rock was reached. Seventeen feet of
this rock was blasted away, and at tine
very last blast, thirty feet from the
surface Of the earth, incased In solid
rock, enniched, was found a frog
alive. This is authentic and is duly
Gttested by witnesses. This frog must
have been entombed for over 10000
years, alive, and, aside from the mar
velous fact of the solitude Of the ages,
entombed alone. What marvellous
force must be behind it to hold and
stay decay!
The stoppage Of circulation is death.
This seems true when applied to hu-
man life When applied to amphibious
life this does not hold true, for the
frog may be frozen solid, every drop
Of his blood frozen; thaw him out and
he is still alive. This is also true of
many fishes.
The study of ordinary laws, now
known and apparent, in answer to the
question Of longevity, is directed to
laws Of economy which are compensa-
tory. These have been studied expert
ments and researches extending into
all parts of the biological world have
been made, and my general deductions
are the following:
Structural quality of size seems to be
significant in value as a guide to Ion
gevity in animals and plants 1t would
seem as If the initial impulse Of inhel-
ent vital energy, upon which all life
depends for its causation, was so abun-
dainty inherited as to be over and
above that used UP in resisting dis
ease and decay, and that such surplus
age of vital force, having no other use,
gave impetus to growth and increased
structural strength.
Rapid development presages rapid
decay. Rapid growth also produces
immature development. That which
implies quick construction also implies
less intricate structure. When applied
to life it means less organic develop
ment. In short, early reproductive ca
pability is the rule to a short life. 1t
is the rule in natures realm that small
organization, great or early reproduc-
ton power and short life are allied.
90 aVTfta IN @ 10 A0t
of its various species, for animals that
are short lived are enabled to propa-
gate more in order to reproduce rap
idly that which time so quickly re-
moves.
A few striking examples viii bear
out this fact in the animal and vege-
table kingdoms:
Mammalia:
Elephant-Extreme age, 200 years.
Fecundity, one birth at a time.
Greenland Whale-Ex Exreme age, $50
years. Fecundity, every few years.
Rabbit - Extreme age, eight years
Fecundity, seven litters per year; av-
erage, eight in litter.
Cat-Extreme age, eighteen years.
Fecundity, several litters per year; av-
erage, four per litter.
Fish:
Pike--Extreme age, 267 years. Fe-
cundity, unknown. (Size of one men
toned by Yarrel weighed $50 pounds
and was nineteen feet long)
Herring-Extreme age, four years
Fecundity, countless thousands yearly.
Oviparous animals:
Ostrich-Extreme age, 100 years. Fe-
cundity, few eggs yearly. Sun per
forms in hot climate the function Of
sitting In six weeks.
Dove-Extreme age, ten years. Fe-
cundity, almost continuously. Sits
upon eggs ten days.
Plants:
The sequoia gigantes in California
measures ninety-nine feet in crcum-
ference ana is 300 feet high; age per
rings, 430 years.
Very many annual and biennial deli
cate in strength, small in size, living
only one or two years.