﻿550 
  ANNUAL. 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1927 
  

  

  chance 
  of 
  survivorship, 
  which 
  diminishes 
  indefinitely, 
  but 
  with 
  no 
  

   known 
  or 
  knowable 
  limit. 
  At 
  any 
  rate, 
  this, 
  and 
  not 
  a 
  natural 
  life 
  

   span, 
  is 
  the 
  lesson 
  of 
  acturial 
  science. 
  

  

  DELETERIOUS 
  INFLUENCES 
  REMOVED 
  

  

  The 
  second 
  line 
  of 
  evidence 
  is 
  that 
  centenarians, 
  like 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  us, 
  

   are 
  invariably 
  exposed 
  to 
  life-shortening 
  influences. 
  The 
  removal 
  of 
  

   these 
  influences 
  ought 
  therefore 
  to 
  lengthen 
  their 
  lives 
  just 
  as 
  it 
  

   lengthens 
  others. 
  I, 
  myself, 
  have 
  collected 
  170 
  life 
  histories 
  of 
  the 
  

   very 
  aged. 
  On 
  the 
  average 
  they 
  lived 
  much 
  more 
  hygienically 
  than 
  

   most 
  people. 
  But 
  few 
  of 
  them 
  were 
  such 
  paragons 
  of 
  virtue 
  as 
  

   Carnaro, 
  while 
  all 
  of 
  course 
  had 
  to 
  battle 
  with 
  bacteria 
  to 
  some 
  

   extent. 
  

  

  It 
  stands 
  to 
  reason 
  that 
  if 
  they 
  had 
  enjoyed 
  a 
  germ-free 
  environ- 
  

   ment 
  or 
  had 
  lived 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  very 
  highest 
  standards 
  of 
  hygiene, 
  or 
  

   both, 
  that 
  their 
  lives 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  even 
  longer 
  than 
  they 
  were. 
  

  

  MORTALITY 
  RATES 
  DIMINISHING 
  IN 
  UPPER 
  AGES 
  

  

  The 
  third 
  reason 
  for 
  thinking 
  100 
  years 
  too 
  small 
  a 
  limit 
  is 
  : 
  Recent 
  

   experience 
  clearly 
  indicates 
  that, 
  contrary 
  to 
  prior 
  experience, 
  the 
  

   mortality 
  rates 
  are 
  beginning 
  to 
  diminish 
  even 
  at 
  the 
  upper 
  age 
  

   groups. 
  The 
  American 
  actuary 
  just 
  referred 
  to 
  admitted 
  this 
  and 
  

   reminded 
  me 
  that 
  I 
  had 
  predicted 
  it 
  in 
  talking 
  with 
  him 
  20 
  years 
  ago. 
  

   Even 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  the 
  same 
  phenomenon 
  had 
  appeared 
  in 
  Sweden. 
  

  

  It 
  stands 
  to 
  reason 
  that 
  the 
  causes 
  which 
  are 
  diminishing 
  mortality 
  

   at 
  the 
  higher 
  ages 
  will 
  continue. 
  

  

  AUTHENTIC 
  CASES 
  OF 
  LONG 
  LIFE 
  

  

  The 
  fourth 
  reason 
  for 
  believing 
  the 
  100-year 
  limit 
  too 
  small 
  is 
  that 
  

   life-insurance 
  experience 
  and, 
  still 
  more, 
  the 
  larger 
  experience 
  of 
  the 
  

   census 
  and 
  of 
  special 
  investigators, 
  like 
  Westergaard, 
  find 
  a 
  consid- 
  

   erable 
  number 
  of 
  apparently 
  authentic 
  cases 
  of 
  people 
  who 
  have 
  

   lived 
  105 
  or 
  even 
  110 
  years, 
  and 
  occasionally 
  120. 
  

  

  In 
  Portland, 
  Oreg., 
  Mrs. 
  Mary 
  L. 
  Wood 
  died 
  at 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  120 
  

   years 
  and 
  under 
  circumstances 
  which 
  permitted 
  the 
  authentication 
  

   of 
  her 
  case 
  by 
  the 
  Oregon 
  Historical 
  Society. 
  

  

  The 
  extremest 
  case 
  with 
  any 
  good 
  claim 
  to 
  authenticity 
  is 
  that, 
  

   studied 
  and 
  accepted 
  by 
  Westergaard 
  (20), 
  of 
  the 
  Norwegian 
  Drak- 
  

   enberg 
  who 
  was 
  born 
  in 
  1626 
  and 
  lived 
  until 
  1772, 
  aged 
  146. 
  

  

  He 
  was 
  married 
  when 
  111 
  years 
  old, 
  and 
  as 
  a 
  widower 
  of 
  130 
  proposed 
  to 
  

   marry 
  again, 
  although 
  without 
  success. 
  

  

  It 
  stands 
  to 
  reason 
  that 
  if 
  a 
  few 
  people 
  have 
  actually 
  passed 
  the 
  

   age 
  of 
  120, 
  in 
  the 
  future 
  man3'^ 
  more 
  may 
  do 
  so. 
  

  

  