REJUVENESCENCE 157 



man and the higher animals than is now possible, 

 but when we remember that the present condition 

 of the protoplasmic substratum of these organisms 

 is the result of millions of years of evolutionary 

 equilibration, we cannot but admit that this task 

 may prove to be one of considerable difficulty." 



We should just think it will, but we are slow to 

 conclude that we must simply say as of old : " And 

 so from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe; and then, 

 from hour to hour, we rot and rot." For in the 

 biological facts we find more than a hint that 

 changes are lightsome; that habituations age us; 

 that new work, new scenes, new play, new rest, at 

 the worst new diet, should be experimented with; 

 that we should cultivate in our pilgrimage the ad- 

 venturous mood, for if it be true that a man is just 

 as old as his arteries, it is also true that he is as 

 young as his mind is. Our life is, we suspect, largely 

 punctuated beforehand, but certainly not wholly. 

 We can put in commas, and we have a sporting 

 chance of inserting semicolons. In any case, our 

 effort to stave off senescence is likely to be rewarded 

 by an evasion of senility. 



