186 THE CONTEOL OF LIFE 



organism has been lost. Every one knows the mar- 

 vellous picture of old age which we owe to the author 

 of Ecclesiastes : — " The mind and senses begin to be 

 darkened, the winter of life approaches with its clouds 

 and storms ; the arms — the protectors of the bodily 

 house — tremble, the strong legs bow, the grinders 

 cease because they are few, the apples of the eyes are 

 darkened, the jaws munch with only a dull sound ; 

 the old man is nervously weak and startled even by 

 a bird chirping ; he is afraid of even hillocks, his fall- 

 ing hair is white as the strewn almond blossoms, he 

 drags himself along with difficulty, he has no more 

 appetite, he seeks only for his home of rest, which he 

 finds when the silver cord is loosed or the golden bowl 

 broken." 



Physiologically regarded, the process of ageing is 

 manifold. The bones become lighter and less resist- 

 ant, some of them break easily ; the muscles become 

 weaker and stifier — hence the stoop ; the nervous sys- 

 tem becomes slower and less forceful, the heart less 

 vigorous ; the arteries are less elastic ; the parts begin 

 to fail to answer to one another's call, " and then, from 

 hour to hour, we rot and rot." 



Many answers have been given to the question 

 What compels a creature to grow old ? It is said that 

 we wear out parts of the body such as the nervous sys- 

 tem which cannot be renewed, such as the hard- worked 

 heart, liver, and kidneys. But why should there not 

 have been more perfect recuperation ? It is said that 

 we accumulate poisonous waste-products, so that the 



