The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1904-12-31
MEN ARE LIVING LONGER.
Sanitary knowledge Has Helped to
Increase the Number of Cen
tenarians.

OF later years there has been in
creased fertility in the production, or,
al least, in the record Of cases Of gen
uine c~entenarians. A century ago the
authenticity Of the r~ecord-and even
the physical possibility of the exist
ence-of a human c%entenarian. was
questioned by the skeptical, says the
Chicago Chronicle,
There can be little doubt that a
large proportion of the ~centensriau spe-
cimens were In former ages invented
by the manufacturers of the folklore
and fairy tales-in those good old days
when the registration of births and
bsptismal records was not SO care.
fully carried u and SO securely pre-
served as they have been of recent
years. But. although the annual sup
ply of cases may seem 10 have dimin-
ished, the record of a certain tlimit-
ed number has within recent years
been placed in a position which is his
tcficaIly and scientifically impregnable.
All the evidence now before the
scientific world goes to show that the
span OF average human life is length
ening even in this century of hurry
and worry universally prevailing. and
everywhere increasing.
The additional physical comforts, the
sanitary improvements and the almost
,,pivarco1 diffusion oT coma of ~.
fundamental maxims of hygiene have
hitherto more than compensated for
the excess of wear and tear produced
by the increased velocity which is now
so necessary in the race for material
success and for the complicated con-
sequences of the increased competition
which the growing population and
gradual elevation of the standard OF
skilled labor. mental, as well as physi-
cal, have created in every profession
and occupation of life.
1t would appear that the ground is
gradually sliding from beneath the feet
OF the ignoble army of pessimists. The
hopes inspired by the rapid progress OF
principle and practice Of hygiene and
OF the knowledge of the precise causa-
ton and intimate nature Of disease
during the last half century have led
some enthusiastic scientists, especially
the elect members of that order who
have not yet arrived at the prosaic age
of 40, to express with considerable
confidence the prophetic forecast that
before the end OF the twentieth cen-
fury the genesis of every one of the
disease-producing microbes will have
been brought under complete control.
II not then actually wiped on the face
of the earth, their entrance into and
their subsequent development and re-
production in the tissues of the hui
man body will have been effectively
provided against,
The gigantic strides which have
been continuously made during the
whole of the last century II all de-
partments of scientific advancement do
most assuredIy give some reasonable
grounds for such an outlook. 1t may
be hoped that thenceforward the Of
flee of the physician will be no longer
required to include the cure of dis
ease. He will only require to main
tain the efficiency Of his scouts and
o%utposts so as to insure timely warn
ing of every approaching invasion of
microscopic enemies, if any happen to
be still left.
All his other energies will be de-
voted to the provision of means for
the frightening Of the span of hui
life and the further development
and expansion of the physical and men
tai powers of man,
The influence of heredity in the gene
sis Of long life is well known to all
observant persons. Persons Of almost
all habits and occupations-even some
Of the most %unsanitary and most dan
g~erous-will be found enrolled on the
list. The North American In
dian, who lived a life of continuous
exposure in %unchanging filth of per-
sonal habit, and the modern chemist,
who spent all his more active hours
n a close laboratory, necessarily in
haling the foul gases of his myriad ex-
periments, have both lived to the age
Of 100.
The list includes philosophers and
criminals, soldiers and sneaks, tee
and drunkards, globe trotters
and denizens of a single room Tor
,elD, mobiles and servants, m%illionaires
and paupers. The annals of longevity
say that Lady Lawson, who died at
he age of lie, never practiced ablu-
ions of any kind or hardly in any de-
gree, because, as she alleged. those peo-
pie who washed themselves were al
taking cold or laying the founda-
ion Of some dreadful disorder" And,
moreover, that cher apartment was
1nly occasionally swept out, but never
washed; the windows were so incrust-
ID with dirt that they hardly admit
ed a ray of light" In presence of
such facts dogmatists sanitary should
surely be somewhat more modest.