﻿LENGTHENING 
  OF 
  HUMAN 
  LIFE 
  FISHER 
  

  

  539 
  

  

  century 
  the 
  rate 
  was 
  9 
  years 
  per 
  century. 
  During 
  the 
  last 
  quarter 
  Tt 
  

   was 
  14 
  years 
  per 
  century 
  in 
  Massachusetts, 
  17 
  years 
  per 
  century 
  in 
  

   Europe 
  in 
  general, 
  and 
  27 
  years 
  per 
  century 
  in 
  Prussia 
  in 
  particular. 
  

   More 
  recent 
  data 
  show 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  quarter 
  of 
  the 
  twentieth 
  cen- 
  

   tury, 
  for 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  England, 
  and 
  Germany, 
  life 
  lengthened 
  

   at 
  the 
  amazing 
  pace 
  of 
  40 
  years 
  per 
  century. 
  Raymond 
  Pearl 
  finds 
  

  

  CHART 
  II 
  

  

  SURVIVORSHIP 
  CURVES 
  

   United 
  States 
  1920 
  

  

  AND 
  

  

  Possible 
  1917 
  (Dubun) 
  

  

  lil 
  

  

  iiilli! 
  

  

  all! 
  

  

  ffi 
  

  

  100 
  

  

  -80 
  

  

  60 
  

  

  -40 
  

  

  ■20 
  

  

  ■0 
  

  

  Fig. 
  2. 
  — 
  The 
  100 
  vertical 
  hars 
  in 
  this 
  chart 
  represent 
  100 
  persons 
  in 
  a 
  representative 
  

   group. 
  The 
  height 
  of 
  the 
  hars 
  shows 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  years 
  of 
  life 
  enjoyed 
  by 
  each 
  

   person. 
  The 
  black 
  vertical 
  bars 
  in 
  this 
  chart 
  portray 
  conditions 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  

   throughout 
  the 
  registration 
  area, 
  in 
  1920, 
  and 
  the 
  gray 
  tops 
  above 
  the 
  black 
  bars 
  show 
  

   what 
  additional 
  lifetimes 
  might 
  he 
  expected, 
  as 
  a 
  reasonable 
  human 
  goal, 
  according 
  

   to 
  the 
  estimates 
  made 
  by 
  Louis 
  I. 
  Dublin, 
  as 
  early 
  as 
  1917 
  

  

  It 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  that 
  a 
  marked 
  increase 
  has 
  taken 
  place 
  in 
  the 
  length 
  of 
  the 
  average 
  

   lifetime 
  in 
  the 
  last 
  quarter 
  century 
  by 
  comparing 
  the 
  black 
  bars 
  in 
  this 
  chart 
  with 
  

   the 
  black 
  bars 
  in 
  Chart 
  I, 
  showing 
  conditions 
  in 
  Massachusetts 
  in 
  the 
  nineties 
  

  

  that 
  Baltimore 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  half 
  century 
  has 
  been 
  lengthening 
  

   human 
  life 
  at 
  the 
  rate 
  of 
  30 
  years 
  per 
  century, 
  while 
  London 
  shows 
  

   a 
  rate 
  of 
  45 
  years 
  per 
  century. 
  But 
  it 
  is 
  Germany 
  which 
  again 
  

   reaches 
  high-water 
  mark 
  with 
  a 
  rate 
  of 
  60 
  years 
  per 
  century 
  ! 
  

  

  But 
  are 
  these 
  rates 
  destined 
  to 
  keep 
  up, 
  or 
  are 
  they, 
  like 
  the 
  speed 
  

   of 
  60 
  miles 
  an 
  hour 
  which 
  an 
  automobile 
  reaches 
  for 
  a 
  brief 
  moment, 
  

   destined 
  soon 
  to 
  recede? 
  Dr. 
  Hornell 
  Hart, 
  of 
  Bryn 
  Mawr 
  Col- 
  

  

  