﻿540 
  

  

  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1927 
  

  

  lege 
  (7), 
  believes 
  that 
  not 
  only 
  will 
  the 
  present 
  rate 
  be 
  kept 
  up, 
  but 
  

   even 
  that 
  its 
  recent 
  acceleration 
  will 
  be 
  maintained. 
  He 
  concludes 
  

   that 
  by 
  the 
  year 
  2000 
  the 
  average 
  duration 
  of 
  human 
  life 
  will 
  be 
  100 
  

   years 
  and 
  that 
  many 
  babies 
  will 
  then 
  be 
  born 
  destined 
  to 
  live 
  to 
  be 
  

   200. 
  In 
  support 
  of 
  this 
  startling 
  prognosis, 
  Doctor 
  Hart 
  says 
  : 
  

  

  The 
  tendency 
  for 
  tlie 
  past 
  million 
  years] 
  has 
  been 
  toward 
  accelerating 
  in- 
  

   creases 
  in 
  man's 
  poAver 
  to 
  control 
  his 
  environment. 
  This 
  is 
  conclusively 
  shown 
  

   by 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  cutting 
  tools 
  used 
  by 
  man 
  from 
  the 
  Pliocene 
  age, 
  hundreds 
  

   of 
  thousands 
  of 
  years 
  ago, 
  up 
  to 
  1925. 
  In 
  a 
  more 
  definitely 
  measurable 
  way 
  

   this 
  acceleration 
  is 
  obvious 
  in. 
  such 
  variables 
  as 
  the 
  speed 
  with 
  which 
  man 
  

   has 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  move, 
  the 
  rapidity 
  with 
  which 
  he 
  has 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  make 
  copies 
  

   of 
  a 
  message, 
  the 
  length 
  of 
  the 
  span 
  over 
  which 
  he 
  could 
  throw 
  an 
  arch 
  or 
  

  

  CHART 
  III 
  

  

  20 
  30 
  40 
  50 
  60 
  70 
  80 
  90 
  100 
  110 
  IZO 
  

  

  Fig. 
  3. 
  — 
  The 
  curve 
  ends 
  at 
  105 
  years 
  only 
  for 
  lack 
  of 
  sufficient 
  data. 
  It 
  shows 
  no 
  tend- 
  

   ency 
  to 
  approach 
  a 
  limit, 
  i. 
  c, 
  a 
  vertical 
  direction 
  

  

  bridge, 
  the 
  speed 
  with 
  which 
  new 
  inventions 
  have 
  been 
  diffused 
  over 
  the 
  world, 
  

   and 
  the 
  distance 
  at 
  which 
  one 
  man 
  could 
  kill 
  another. 
  Curves 
  drawn 
  to 
  repre- 
  

   sent 
  any 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  accelerating 
  developments 
  will 
  suggest 
  the 
  same 
  upward 
  

   sweep 
  which 
  is 
  evident 
  in 
  the 
  line 
  representing 
  gains 
  in 
  expectation 
  of 
  life. 
  

  

  Instead 
  of 
  showing 
  signs 
  of 
  liaving 
  used 
  up 
  the 
  major 
  possibilities 
  in 
  pre- 
  

   ventive 
  medicine, 
  research 
  in 
  this 
  field 
  is 
  making 
  major 
  new 
  discoveries 
  which 
  

   bid 
  fair 
  to 
  eclipse 
  past 
  attainments 
  in 
  life 
  saving. 
  The 
  discoveries 
  relating 
  to 
  

   internal 
  secretions 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  functions 
  of 
  vitamins 
  are 
  just 
  beginning 
  to 
  be 
  

   exploited. 
  Antiseptics 
  many 
  times 
  as 
  powerful 
  as 
  any 
  in 
  past 
  use 
  have 
  very 
  

   recently 
  been 
  discovered. 
  Important 
  progress 
  is 
  being 
  made 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  

   cancer 
  and 
  diseases 
  of 
  the 
  heart 
  and 
  blood 
  vessels 
  — 
  two 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  serious 
  

   causes 
  of 
  death 
  in 
  later 
  life. 
  The 
  potential 
  immortality 
  of 
  the 
  cells 
  of 
  the 
  

   body 
  has 
  been 
  demonstrated. 
  Not 
  only 
  are 
  such 
  discoveries 
  being 
  announced 
  

   with 
  increasing 
  frequency, 
  but 
  new 
  research 
  laboratories 
  are 
  constantly 
  being 
  

  

  