SOME LESSONS FROM CENTENNARIANS. 757 



persons, 153 were females and only 50 males that is, more than 

 three times as many women as men reached the age of one hun- 

 dred years. This proportion does not vary greatly from that 

 which has been reported in other cases. Thus, in New York city, 

 out of 111 persons dying at the age of ninety years or over, 77 

 were females and 34 males a proportion of two and one fourth 

 to one. The Morning Post of London has tabulated all the cases 

 of exceptionally long life which were reported in its columns 

 during the year 1892, and finds that the octogenarians numbered 

 1,151, of whom 646 were females and 545 males. Above the age 

 of eighty the proportion of females rapidly increases, so that at 

 the age of one hundred or over there are five times as many 

 women as men. Dr. Farr states that of males living at twenty, 

 one in three reaches seventy, one in eight reaches eighty, and one 

 in seventy reaches ninety ; while of females living at twenty, one 

 in two and two fifths reaches seventy, one in six and three 

 fourths reaches eighty, and one in forty-nine reaches ninety. 

 Hufeland, in his Art of Prolonging Life, lays down the law that 

 " more women than men become old, but fewer very old." The 

 first part of this law is abundantly sustained by the results ob- 

 tained in all these cases. As to the latter portion, judging from 

 these figures, it is open to question. In Massachusetts the aver- 

 age age of the 50 males exceeded that of the 153 females by 

 about nine months.; but of the eight persons who were over one 

 hundred and ten years two were males and six females still 

 three to one ; and the oldest of all was a female, who had at- 

 tained the great age of one hundred and eighteen years. This 

 advantage on the part of the female sex and a considerable 

 advantage we must admit it to be, when we consider that there 

 are nearly five per cent more males born than females, and only 

 one third as many living at the end of a century is probably 

 due in part to the fact that women as a class have a more fa- 

 vorable environment than men, leading more quiet and regular 

 lives, having fewer bad habits and forms of dissipation to sap 

 their vitality, and being less exposed to death by violence and 

 by accident ; and in part to a greater endurance and tenacity of 

 life which are inherent in the female sex. 



Considering next the element of marriage, we find that 184 

 had been married one or more times, 14 had never been married, 

 and concerning 5 the facts were not stated. Leaving out of ac- 

 count the latter class, there were thirteen times as many married 

 as unmarried. In the absence of statistics showing the relative 

 proportion of married and unmarried persons in the community 

 at large, it is impossible to determine the proportion of centen- 

 narians in each class ; but it may be considered as quite certain 

 that the married reach the age of one hundred years in greater 



