108 HUMAN LONGEVITY. 



volume the longevity of man. We wish to deal fairly with 

 his doctrine, and shall state it as clearly as we can. But 

 here again we have to complain of the loose and desultory 

 character of his reasoning, broken by numerous citations from 

 other writers, poets as well as physiologists, and many of 

 them little fitted to serve as authorities in a scientific treatise. 

 We have been accustomed to look into the pages of Moliere, 

 Voltaire, and La Fontaine for satire upon human life, and 

 not for sober reasoning upon longevity. 



M. Flourens propounds his main question in these terms : 

 ' Quelle est la duree, naturelle, ordinaire, normale, de la 

 vie de 1'homme ? ' And he instantly replies to this question 

 by a passage from Buffon, which he takes as the text and 

 authority for his own views. ' L'homme qui ne meurt pas 

 de maladies accidentelles, vit partout quatre-vingt-dix ou 

 cent ans.' Though we might comment on the tautology of 

 naturelle and normale as applied to the term of life, we can 

 find no other fault in this manner of propounding the theme. 

 In adopting the conclusion of Buffon, he follows the same 

 train of reasoning to it. He affirms that the duration of life 

 depends neither on climate, nor food, nor race, nor any 

 external condition; but has relation solely to the natural 

 constitution and intrinsic vigour (vertu intrinscque) of the 

 vital organs. Eegarding everything in the animal economy 

 as submitted to fixed laws; that every animal species 

 has its determinate shape and size, its particular time of 

 gestation and period of growth ; he infers that the natural 

 duration of life must be equally definite for each species, 

 and open to determination. Still following Buffon at each 

 step, M. Flourens accepts his doctrine that this measure of 

 life is to be found in a certain proportion to that of com- 

 plete growth, as well in man as in other animals. He differs 

 only as to what may be taken as the term or limit of this 

 growth. Buffon, naturally enough, makes stature his index ; 



