Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1902-12-18
DURATION OF HUMAN LIFE.
French Scientists Discuss . Seemingly
Contradictory Statement.

French Scientific Discuss . Seem1nglc
Contradictory Statement.
Two prominent French scientists in.
vestigating the question Of centena-
rians have reached the apparently in
consistent and contradictory conclusion
that, while the human race lives long
er. 1t does not reach as old an age as
formerly. The average duration Of hu-
man Hfe-which is technically called
the expectation Of life-is much great
er than 1t ever was before and Is stead
lily increasing, thanks to the improved
sanitation. better medical treatment,
better nursing and generally better
care. but at the same time there are
fewer centenarians and men do not
reach the extreme old age they did
century or five centuries ago. The rea-
son given by the scientists for this up
parent contradiction Is that the sani
tary improvements made, the care and
nursing of the sick have diminished or
lowered the vitality or constitution of
the human race by keeping alive by al
most artificial means the weak and
defective members Of the community.
In olden times the weaker persons
persisted early and generally died be-
fore reaching puberty. The Darwln,an
system, says writer In the New Or
leans Times Democrat, Of the survival
Of the fittest eliminated them and the
population was preserved through
those Of stronger physique, whose Wig.
tn Sf
all the unsanitary surroundings and
the diseases that lurked everywhere.
AS a consequence the average individ-
ual who survived childhood in the mid
die ages was Of more vigorous growth
than he Is to-day, when, thanks to san
itariums, doctors and nurses, the most
feeble, thin blOOded, scOrbutic child
may be nursed to manhood, to become
the father of a family which perpetu-
ates his maladies and in time spreads
his constitutional weakness throughout
the community
In Sparta of old, it will be remember
ed, all weak or delicate children were
exposed by the State on Mount Tayge-
tus. to be devOured by wild beasts.
The result was to eliminate the weak
and feeble and to establish one Of the
sturdiest and most vigorous races in
the world. A still more striking in
stance Of this, however, Is seen in
China, where. according to Martin, the
best authority on the subject. the ply
steal vigor Of the Chinese has survived
amid the mental, moral and industrial
decay of the natlon>o only because Of the
unsanitary condition Of the country.
The insanltation Is so great that 1t kills
off millions yearly. The delicate per-
ish miserably amid conditions that are
almost intolerable. The survivors rep
resent the stronger constitutions that
can resist the filth and poisons that
surround them, and they continue the
vigor Of the Mongolian race, which has
in the last ten centuries declined In
in every respect except physique.
These are the facts upon which the
French scientists base their belief that
while men live longer than they did.
they do live longer We know from the
reports Of the census and the insurance
companies. The late census would in
dictate that the people Of the United
States have added five years to their
average human age in this country in
the last decade, and the expectation of
human life the civilized world over Is
twice as great as 1t was 100 years ago.
Washington Times.