DECLINE OF THE SYSTEM. 557 



take place in the vascular system, A large pro- 

 portion of the numerous arteries, which were in 

 full activity during the building of the fabric, being 

 now no longer wanted, are thrown, as it were, out 

 of employment ; they, in consequence, contract, 

 and becoming impervious, gnidually disappear. 

 The parts of the body, no longer yielding to the 

 power applied to extend them, oppose a gradually 

 increasing resistance to the propelling force of the 

 heart ; while, at the same time, this force, in com- 

 mon with all the others, is slowly diminishing. 

 Thus do the vital powers become less equal to the 

 demands made upon them ; the waste of the body 

 exceeds the supply, and a diminution of energy 

 becomes apparent in every function. 



Such are the insensible gradations by which, 

 while gliding down the stream of time, we lapse 

 into old age, which insidiously steals on us before 

 we are aware of its approach. But the same provi- 

 dent power which presided at our birth, which 

 superintended the growth of all the organs, which 

 infused animation into each as they arose, and 

 which conducted the system unimpaired to its ma- 

 turity, is still exerted in adjusting the conditions 

 under which it is placed in its season of decline. 

 New arrangements are made, new energies are 

 called forth, and new resources are employed, to 

 accommodate it to its altered circumstances, to 

 prop the tottering fabric, and retard the progress 

 of its decay. In proportion as the supply of nutri- 

 tive materials has become less abundant, a more 

 strict economy is practised with regard to their 

 disposal ; the substance of the body is husbanded 

 with greater care ; the absorbent vessels are em- 



