The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1907-01-01
Hunting For Eternal Youth.

WHICH VIC HSuu TIC StOiy VI IOuC0 10
Leon and other adventurous mariners
sailing unknown seas in quest Of the
land Of eternal sunshine and never
ending youth we think of them a.
mistaken dreamers, although admiring
their enthusiasm. In one sense all
mankind today yearn to prolong the
period Of youthfulness. yet very few
civilized men and women expect to &C
complish this by miracle. The alleg-
ed discoveries Of an elixir of life may
get brief hearing from the susceptible
few. but the great bulk Of people go ON
preparing for old age and death. Mari
ner and alchemist alike are at a dis
count in face of the stubborn and uni
versal fact that mankind must grow
old and die in the twentieth century
the same as in the first aud. as we be-
lieve, for countless centuries before
that.
Yet 1t would appear from the conclu-
sions reached by DIR. Carl Snyder, who
writes of 1.-The Quest Of Prolonged
Youth" in the Monthly Review, that
the question whether men will ever
learn how to avert old age Is debatabie
from the point Of view of medical SCI
ence. today. The doctor himself In
clines to the belief that while we may
never learn how to avert 1t, we may at
least learn its cause, something Of
which we know practically nothing at
present.
DR.. Snyder reviews theories and ex-
plantations as to the cause Of old age
that have been put forth in the past,
citing Dr. Muhlman of Odessa as au-
thOrity for the theory that where
growth stops in plant or animal life
death begins. In fact, life itself in
wolves a process OF cell degeneration,
and old age or aging begins with
growth. Decay is first noticed in cells
which by reason of remOteness from
channels Of nutrition have the greatest
difficulty in securing food. The nerves
and brain are farthest from sources
Of supply and first cease to grow.
while the skin, lungs and Innings of the
body continue to grow up to advanced
age Dr. Snyder breaks in at this
point to observe that the most COM
pick organisms, with millions and bill
lions of cells, live as long as the sim
pier forms with few cells. Age in
and moths live but few hours or
days, elephants and whales live 200
years or more.
In this question of nutrition for tho
cells is involved arterial degeneration,
and the idea that "a man is as old as
his arteries" is of very ancient date.
DR.. Snyder contends that arterio-
sclerOss is a condition but not q cause
of old age
As a preface to the argument for the
hope, as above referred to, that man
may some time learn the cause Of old
age, DR.. Snyder says, THE aging Of
the body is the aging of the cells,
but we do not yet understand what II
is that makes the cells grow Old-what
makes us die" While acknowledging
that in the present state of physiolog-
ical knowledge the outlook for the
Ponce de Icons of today is not cheer
full, this author observes that physiolO-
gy was born but yesterday. Much II
not most Of our knowledge of the
more intricate processes of life has
come within a few years. Newton did
not know the Office of his lungs. Frank
lin probably never heard Of oxygen.
Laplace knew nothing of the mechan-
ism of the nerves, and to Sir Hum
phry Davy the subject was new.
Pepsin was then unknown, and. DR..
Snyder adds. Gladstone probably died
still believing In the separate creation
of the species" Not until recent years
was it known that iodine and arsenic
are essential constituents Of the body
and that forms Of life exist in an at
mosphere oxygen free. Much which
yet remains obscure may sooner or
later be cleared up, among other
things, old age.
DR.. Snyder concludes that habits
and conditions Of life do not seriously
affect its duration. The problem Is
to control artificially the. restoration of
physical substance, worn down With
every expenditure Of energy. This SIS
the more or less conscious aim Of all
rational scientific investigation" Mean
while the average man and woman
lives on in the expectation of fading
powers, with death at the end. Her
bert Spencer began putting his house
In order for the grim visitor at forty.
yet lived to be eighty-four. Most
people act as though fifty were the
line even when they refuse
to admit it. And, after all, old age and =
death soom a necessary mart NJ the