THE PROLONGATON OF LIFE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 4 March 1908, Page 79

THE PROLONGATON OF LIFE.

Tf there is one topic in the world that never becomes faded or out of d<ate it is the topic of man's brevity of life, and so " The Prolongation of Life" 12s 6d r-et), by Profep«OT Elie Metchnikoff, sub-director of the Pasteur Institute, is something more than a. scientific treatise. Translated by Dr P. Chalmers Mitchell, this work is avowedly optimistic. The professor believes that human life can be prolonged, and that humanity may at last arrive at a stage of tranquillity in which death is regarded not as a menacing evil, but as a need, like sleep itself. — Sieep and Death. — For the professor this form of "natural death" is, as it were, a development y£ sleep Tegarded as the i«esult of auto-intoxi-cation. Against- this tsbeory of 'Sleep M. E. Clopa-redfe, -a psychologist of Geneva, has brought forward the "instinctive" theory. He maintains that sleep is the manifestation of an instinct, "the -object of which is to arrest -activity ; we do not sleep because "we axe intoxicated or «exhausted-, but -to prevent oureelveß from falling into such a condition." Tor tbe author of this book "these theories are not antagonistic. *' Hunger," he -writes, "is an instinctive sensation as much as sleepiness, but it *k>es not appear until our tissues are in a condition of exhaustion, the exact nature -of which cannot as yet be indicated. There is no real contradiction between the toxic and instinctive theories of sleep. The two theories represent different sides of a special condition of the organism." Moreover, if there is indeed an analogy between sleep and natural death, it " is in favour of the supposition that the latter, also, is due to an intoxication much more profound and serious than that which results in sleep. Therefore, as natural death in human beings has been studied' only very superficially, it is impossible to do more than frame theories regarding it." — The Problem of Longevity. — The author has counted from a list of centenarians 26 who led a conspicuously sober and frugal life, but, on the other hand, many were anything but temperate in their habits : Catherine Reymond, for instance, who died in 1758 at the age of 107 years, drank much wine ; and Politiman, a surgeon who lived from 1685 to 1825, was in the habit, from his twenty-fifth year onwards, of getting drunk every night, after having Attended to his practice all day. Gascogne, a. butcher of Trie (Hautes-Pyrenees) , died in 1767 at the age of 120, and had been accustomed: to get drunk twice a week. A most curious example is that of the Irish landowner Brawn, who lived to the age of 120, and who had an inscription put upon his tombstone that he was always drunk, and when in that condition was so terrible that- even death had been afraid of him. Some districts, even, are distinguished at once for the longevity of their inhabitants and for the large local consumption of alcohol. In 1897, the \illage of Chailly, in the Cote dOr, had no less than 20 octogenarians among 523 inhabitants. This village is one of the localities in 'France where most alcohol is consumed, and the old people are very far from being distinguished from, their younger fellows by any special sobriety. Again, most centenarians are noted for their exceptionally strong constitutions, but quite abnormal people have lived to be very old. " A woman called Nicoline Marc died in 1760, at the age of 110. Since she was two years old her left arm was crippled. Her hand was bent under the arm like a hook. She was a hunchback, and so bent that she appeared to be no more than 4ft high. A Scotch woman, Elspeth Wilson, died at the age of 115 yea.rs. She was quite a dwarf, being only a little over 2ft high. On the other hand, although they usually have a very short life, giants have been known to reach the age of 100." — Not the Natural Limit. — The professor refuses to accept the view that the very high mortality between the ages of 70 and 75 indicates the natural limit of human Hfe : The fact that many men of from 70 to 75 years old are well preserved, both physically and intellectually, makes it impossible to regard that age as the natural limi: of human life. Philosophers euch as Plato, poets such as Goethe and Victor Hugo, artists such as Michael Angelo, Titian, and Franz Hals p'oduced some of their most impoitant works when they had 2 )a ssed what Lexis and Ebstein regard as the limit of life. Moreover, deaths of people at that age are rarely due to senile debility. In Paris, for instance. in 1902, of cases of deaths between the ages of 70 and 74, only 8.5 per cent, were due to old age. Infectious diseases, 6uch as pneumonia, tuberculosis, dieeases

of the heart and the kidney, and cerebral hemorrhage, caused mest of tbe deaths oi these old people. Such cases of death, however, can often be avoided, and must be regarded as accidental rather than natural. — Rudimentary Organs. — In this book, as in the " Nature of Man," Professor Metchnikoff attacks the large intestine, the survival of which at our present state of development seems to him not only unnecessary, but a danger ous hothouse for the preservation of poisonous bacteria. He points out that wild birds who are without this organ live much longer than the domesticated ones that have developed it. Man, indeed, the professor points out, has numerous rudimentary organs, such as the wisdom teeth, the mammary glamds in males, the three terminals in the nose, the atrophied muscles of the ear. But these and many other organs are only sleeping. They are not dead, but can be awakened by a sufficiently strong stimulant. "Pausanias," 6ays the author, "gives an example of n dumb young man who recovered his speech when he was terrified by seeing a lion. Herodotus relates that the son of Croesus, who was dumb, on seeing a Persian about to* kill his father, cried out, ' You must not kill Croesus,' and from that time onwards was able to talk. These ancient narratives bave been confirmed by many modern observations. A woman, for instance, who had been dumb for several years, on seeing a fire was terrified and cried out suddenly, ' Fire !' after which her speech was restored. Such are cases of the awakening of a function which has been arrested only for several years. But fear can bring into activity other mechanisms which have been inactive from time immemorial." — Sout Milk. — • But it is not suggested that we should get rid of that enemy of human life, the larg« intestine. What is suggested is that we should do our best to check the growth of intestinal flora. The best Teeipe for this the professor has discovered in the lactic acid found in sour milk. The best producer of this lactic acid is the Bulgarian bacillus, and we are told, for the benefit of those who dislike sour milk, that Bulgarian bacilli can be swallowed in jam like any other' disagreeable powder. — The feminist Movement. — In the '-chapter entitled "Society and the Individual in the Human Race," we bave the following interesting note on the feminist movement- — Observation of the feminist movement, which has lasted for more than 40 years, shows that in jtiost cases there is no tendency towards the formation of individuals resembling the infertile worker j insects. Most lady doctors and learned women would like nothing better than to be the founders of a family. Even the women who have been most distinguished in the scientific world are no exception to the rule. In, this relation it is very interesting to follow the details of the life of Sophie Kovalevsky, one of the most notable of learned women. In her youth, when s/he began to study mathematics, she would not admit that feelings of love had any importance. Later on, however, she felt | herself growing old ; these sentiments i awoke In her to such an extent that on I the day when the prize of the Academy of Sciences was bestowed on her, she wrote to one of her -friends : "I am getting innumerable letters of congratulation, but, by the strange irony of fate, I have never felt so unhappy." j This work is avowedly optimistic, but it does not exalt Nature as the all-merci-ful mother. On the contrary, we are reminded that Natu r e, supposed to be at [ least careful of the species, has allowed many species to perish : ! As Nature has not spared these, how can we be certain that she is not ready I to~ deal with the human race in the same way? It is impossible for us to know the unknown, its plans and motives. We must leave Nature on one side and concern ourselves with what is more congruous with our intelligence. Our intelligence informs us that man is capable orf much, and for this reason we hope that he may be able to modify his own nature and transform his disharmonies into harmonies. It is only human will that can attain this ideal. In short, it is brought home to us in this i powerful and brilliant work that as organisation progresses there is an increased importance attaching to the integrity of the individual.