ANIMALS. > 



body. He was affected by the smallest irregula- 

 rities ; and had frequently suffered severe fits of 

 illness from the slightest causes. But the re- 

 markable equality of his temper, and his seeming 

 want of passion, lengthened out his life to above 

 a hundred. It was remarkable of him, that no- 

 thing could vex or make him uneasy ; every oc- 

 currence seemed equally pleasing ; and no event, 

 however unfortunate, seemed to come unexpect- 

 ed." However, the term of life can be prolong- 

 ed but for a very little time by any art we can 

 use. We are told of men who have lived beyond 

 the ordinary duration of human existence ; such 

 as Parr, who lived to a hundred and forty-four j 

 and Jenkins, to a hundred and sixty-five : yet 

 these men used no peculiar arts to prolong 

 life; on the contrary, it appears that these, as 

 well as some others remarkable for their longe- 

 vity, were peasants, accustomed to the greatest 

 fatigues, who had no settled rules of diet, but 

 who often indulged in accidental excesses. In- 

 deed, if we consider that the European, the Ne- 

 gro, the Chinese, and the American, the civilized 

 man and the savage, the rich and the poor, the 

 inhabitant of the city and of the country, though 

 all so different in other respects, are yet entirely 

 similar in the period allotted them for living ; if 

 we consider that neither the difference of race, 

 of climate, of nourishment, of convenience, or of 

 soil, makes any difference in the term of life ; if 

 we consider that those men who live upon raw 

 flesh, or dried fishes, upon sago, or rice, upon 

 cassava, or upon roots, nevertheless live as long 



VOL. II. E 



