94 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



result of these unions is five, and those children now living are 

 generally recorded in the blanks as healthy. 



The fact that in Massachusetts, taking the whole population 

 into account, the women exceed the men by several thousand, ac- 

 counts in some degree for the greater number of old women, but 

 not, certainly, for anything like half of the excess over the men. 

 I attribute this excess to the fact that during the past half -century 

 the bulk of the population of Massachusetts has been on the sea- 

 board, and a large number of the men have been fishermen and 

 mariners. Because of the great loss of life among this class, espe- 

 cially before the time of steamships and during the palmy days of 

 the whale-fishery, the male population shrank in numbers below 

 the normal level, this showing most strikingly in a list of old people. 



Another very peculiar thing revealed by this canvass is the 

 fact that five out of six of these New England old folks have a 

 light complexion, with blue or gray eyes, and abundant brown 

 hair. In stature the men are mostly tall and the women of medium 

 height ; in weight the men range from 100 to IGO pounds, with a 

 few of 200 and over, and the women from 100 to 120, with excep- 

 tional cases of 180 and over. Throughout life the men have been 

 bony and muscular, the women exactly opposite. The condition 

 of the hair, teeth, beard, and skin of these old people at the time 

 when the blanks were filled out was recorded in about 2,500 in- 

 stances. In nearly all the hair remains thick, the teeth are very 

 poor or entirely gone, the skin is only slightly wrinkled, and very 

 few of the men wear any beard. In many instances the corre- 

 spondents speak of the skin as being " fair, soft, smooth, and 

 moist." One case is given, that of a man of eighty-nine, from 

 whose mouth not a tooth has been lost. In most instances of 

 those not over ninety the eye-sight is still good, and in dozens of 

 cases it is pronounced " remarkably good." 



Habits. — The information which the blanks give on the sub- 

 ject of habits coincides with the opinion of most people, formed 

 from observation, that longevity without regularity of habits is 

 rare. These old people, men and women alike, are put down as 

 early risers and retirers, almost without exception, and fully nine- 

 teen out of every twenty have observed this custom throughout 

 life, except perhaps at some short period in youth. Meals have 

 been eaten regularly, three each day, with dinner at noon, the 

 exceptions being so rare as to indicate nothing. Exercise in most 

 cases has been hard work up to sixty-five or seventy, and after 

 that period has consisted (when the regular occupation has been 

 given up) of walking, gardening, or both. Except in cases of 

 sickness these old people are as a rule as active and as fond of 

 constant occupation of some sort to-day as most men and women 

 are at thirty-five. 



