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orders. The physical and mental health being once confirmed, 

 remains most vigorous from the twenty-first to the fortieth 

 year, and the body has then a greater power of adapting 

 itself to surrounding circumstances. From the forty-fifth 

 to the fiftieth year, in females, there is a tendency to disease 

 or derangement of the reproductive system during the 

 menopause, and, in both sexes after the fiftieth year there 

 is a loss of strength, certain functional disturbances, a 

 liability to tissue-degeneracy, and decrease of organic 

 power. There is, then, as Tanner says, "A predisposition to- 

 various organic diseases ; the brain, heart, and the genital 

 and urinary organs being especially prone to suffer. As 

 senility advances sensibility decreases, the memory fails, the 

 muscular strength becomes diminished, and gout, calculous 

 affections, apoplexy, paralysis, softening of the brain, etc.,, 

 often supervene to hasten on the period of second childhood 

 to its close. Age has a very important influence on the 

 same disease occurring in persons of different ages, especially 

 beyond the middle period of life, for whenever the vitality 

 of the body, or its different parts, is lessened, then nature is 

 of course less able to cope with the disease than in young 

 and vigorous subjects. This is well seen in fevers." 



Predisposition is also sexual. There are affections which 

 appertain peculiarly to males, and others to females, from 

 the difference of organisation of the sexes. Burns, speaking 

 of Nature, says : 



" Her 'prentice hand she tried on man, 

 And then she made the lasses." 



and when contrasted with man, there can be no doubt 

 that she has made use of finer materials in their manufacture ; 

 for females have, as a rule, a much greater delicacy of the 

 skin and mucous membrane, and a higher degree of sensi- 



