58 Transactions of the 



and indicate old age. This period commonly extends to the 

 aoe of seventy, sometimes to seventy-five, but seldom to eighty. 

 The eyes and the stomach then become weaker and weaker, lean- 

 ness increases the number of wrinkles, the hair becomes white, 

 and the strength and memory begin to fail. After seventy, or at 

 most eighty, years of age, the life of man is, as the royal bard of 

 Israel observed, nothing but labour and sorrow. Some men of 

 strong constitutions enjoy old age for a long time without decre- 

 pitude, but such instances are very uncommon. Infirmities and 

 weakness continually increase, and at length death closes the 

 scene. The signs which announce the approaching dissolution of 

 the body are humiliating to the pride of man. The memory fails, 

 the fibres become hard, and the nerves blunted ; deafness and 

 blindness take place ; the appetite fails ; the necessity of eating, 

 and more frequently that of drinking, is felt ; after the teeth have 

 fallen out, mastication is imperfectly performed, and the diges- 

 tion is bad ; the lips shrink inwards ; the edges of the jaws can 

 no longer approach each other ; and the muscles of the lower jaw 

 become so weak that they are unable to raise and support it. 

 The decrepit wretch is unable to continue erect ; he is obliged 

 to remain on a seat, or lie stretched in his bed. The circulation 

 of the blood becomes slower ; the strokes of the pulse become 

 fewer and feebler ; respiration is slower ; the body loses its heat ; 

 the circulation of the blood ceases ; death follows, and the dream 

 of life is at an end. 



At the conclusion of Powell's paper, an animated discussion took 

 place with respect to the longevity of the human race. The Rev. 

 J. Greene, and Messrs Barrington-Ward, Ogle, Wilson, R. Bam- 

 ford, and J. Stone, joined in the debate. The President stated 

 that he had been collecting accounts of cases in which people had 

 died at one hundred years of age or upwards. He requested mem- 

 bers of the Society to obtain for him any authentic evidence on 

 the subject which might come before their notice. 



A. Cruttwell, Esq., O.C., Cardifl'(a corresponding member of 

 the Society), next read an interesting paper on 



THE COAL-FIELD OF SOUTH WALES. 



The coal-field of South Wales has long been one of the most 

 famous in the world. It is celebrated for two reasons — first, its 

 compactness ; and secondly, its steam measures. The steam mea- 

 sures or smokeless coal are the lowest seams in the series. Their 

 northern outcrop is just north of Aberdare ; from thence they dip 



