Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1915-05-27
COMBATING OLD AGE
THEORIES ExPouNDED BY PRO
FEssoR METcHNIKoFF.
Russian Scientist; Amazingly Vigorous
at Seventy Years Of Age, Tells
How Human Life May Be
Long Extended.

Professor Metchnikoft IL again dis
coursing on benehcent bacilli, Their
Introduction into the system to de-
strpy pernicious microbes will post
pone old age indefinitely, he main-
tains, with the result that no nnn
need take . vacation to Eecuperate
lost vitality. MetchnikoR at seventy
works an the time With undimfris hed
zest. The fountain Of youth which
Ponce de Leon sought In 1913 In Flor
ida he could have found at home In
sour milk and natural sugar.
For his years the. Russian scientist
is amazingly vigorous. He has been
getting back and keeping his youth
for II years. In a recent interview
Metchnikoff seems to have said moth
ing about exercise as a1Aaid to health.
His aim has been to prevent contami-
nation of the blood by intestinal pol
sons which. clog the human machinery
by contact as they spread to organs
and arteries. Presumably Metchnikoff
takes the air regularly, but science
interests him much more than sport.
Perhaps it can be inferred that he does
not think the usual forms of exercise
necessary If proper microbe diet is
practiced.
The active agents Metchnikoff finds
in the. sugar Of dates as well as in
the tactic acid Of prepared milk. He
eats nothing that is not cooked; even
his fruit must be stewed The sour
milk he takes at his Afirst breakfast,
which consists Of vegetable bouillon
and weak tea, besides the draft OF
bacilli At lunch and dinner he eats
a little meat, free Of vegetables, and
always compete Of fruit. While other
scientists Of his age who do not fol-
low his system falter at their work
In the laboratory, Professor Metchni-
koff knows no fatigue, finishing each
day fresh and full Of enthusiasm. Yet
he comes Of a short-lived family. He
insists that his physical condition
proves beyond challenge that the the
DRY of beneficent bacilli is sound
Some of the physical culturists
reach the same result by a system Of
bone twisting, muscle stretching and
flushing the colon. One of them, San
ford Bennett, wellknown business.
man of San Francisco, is more vigor-
GUS and nimble at. seventy-two than
Professor Metchnikoff Is at seventy.
Mr.. Bennett, who eats what he pleases.
holds the same theory Of the debili-
tating and wasting effects Of intes-
final poisoning, but knowingly he does
not consume certain kinds OF bacild
to kill others. While a successful ex-
perimenter on himself, he is not sci.
enlist. At fifty Bennett was a bilious
and tired-out business man rapidly
growing old. Today he has fresh
complexion, sleeps soundly, moves
about like a healthy man Of forty, and
can go through days bird shooting
in the woods without fatigue. Assum.
Ing that Professor Metchnikoff Is right
when he says that the battle Of bacilli
in the human system can be decided In
favor Of the invaders introduced In
natural sugar and sour milk, it might
be worth while inquiring whether the
bad bacilli are not killed by the meth.
DDS of the unscientif1c San Francisco
priest of youth In old age, although he
makes no study at5all Of those foods
that contain good bacilli.