ANIMALS. S 



the circulation of the fluids is performed with 

 less freedom ; perspiration diminishes ; the secre- 

 tions alter; the digestion becomes slow and la- 

 borious; and the juices no longer serving to 

 convey their accustomed nourishment, those parts 

 may be said to live no longer when the circulat- 

 tion ceases. Thus the body dies by little and 

 little : all its functions are diminished by de- 

 grees ; life is driven from one part of the frame 

 to another ; universal rigidity prevails, and death 

 at last seizes upon the little that is left. 



As the bones, the cartilages, the muscles, and 

 all other parts of the body, are softer in women 

 than in men, these parts must, of consequence, 

 require a longer time to come to that hardness 

 which hastens death. Women, therefore, ought 

 to be a longer time in growing old than men ; and 

 this is actually the case. If we consult the tables 

 which have been drawn up respecting human life, 

 we shall find, that after a certain age they are 

 more long-lived than men, all other circumstances 

 the same. A woman of sixty has a better chance 

 than a man of the same age to live till eighty. 

 Upon the whole we may infer, that such persons 

 as have been slow in coming up to maturity, will 

 also be slow in growing old ; and this holds as 

 well with regard to other animals as to man. 



The whole duration of the life of either vegeta- 

 bles or animals may be, in some measure, deter- 

 mined from their manner of coming to maturity. 

 The tree, or the animal, which takes but a short 

 time to increase to its utmost pitch, perishes much 

 sooner than such as are less premature. In both, 



58 





