SOME LESSONS FROM CENTENNARIANS. 759 



were originally in the enjoyment of the same degree of health and 

 soundness of constitution; whereas, it is an indisputable fact 

 those persons entering the married state are, as a whole, more ro- 

 bust and enduring, and hence have a greater natural expectation 

 of life, than those who remain single ; and it is also evident that 

 repeated marriages, and especially marriages late in life, are indi- 

 cations of a greater than usual degree of vigor and vitality. They 

 are therefore in the nature of an effect, rather than a cause, of ex- 

 treme longevity. 



Coming now to the subject of nativity, we find that 85 were 

 native-born, 115 were foreign-born, and of three the birthplace 

 was unknown. The average age of the native-born was one hun- 

 dred and two years and twenty-seven days ; and of the foreign- 

 born one hundred and two years, nine months, and eleven days. 

 Again, statistics are lacking to determine the relative number of 

 natives and foreigners in the State as a whole. But as it can 

 hardly be supposed that the foreign outnumbers the native popu- 

 lation, these figures would seem to show an advantage on the part 

 of the foreign-born, both in average age and in proportionate num- 

 ber of centennarians. This may be partially explained on the 

 ground that the immigrants who came to this country from fifty 

 to one hundred years ago, when the country was comparatively 

 new and unsettled, would naturally be persons of more than the 

 average vigor and endurance. Pioneers are of necessity a hardy 

 race. The weak and sickly remain quietly at home, while the 

 strong and hardy venture out into a new country and new con- 

 ditions. 



It must not be forgotten also that there is a source of possible 

 fallacy in the ages given. It is proverbially difficult to obtain the 

 exact age of ignorant persons, the tendency being more and more, 

 as years advance, to exaggerate the real age. When to this is 

 added the element of foreign birth, rendering a reference to birth 

 records impossible, it is easy to see that there is a great liability 

 that the ages given by the foreigners as a class were considerably 

 in excess of the true ages. 



Among the foreign-born the Irish carry off the palm as to num- 

 bers in the list of centennarians, as they undoubtedly do in the 

 general population, furnishing 93 out of 115. Their average age 

 exceeds that of the natives by about eight months, while it is ex- 

 ceeded by the other foreigners as a class by about four months. 



As to color, 197 were white, with an average age of one hun- 

 dred and two years, four months, and twenty-four days ; and six 

 were colored, with an average age of one hundred and five years, 

 three months, and twenty-four days ; while three of the six colored 

 were over one hundred and ten years of age. 



Now, it is an opinion generally held, and I think capable of 



