Insanity and Alcohol ism* 



centuries people were credited with living to a 

 much greater age than they do at present. We 

 are bound to place a certain amount of confi- 

 dence in the statements of such men as Sir John 

 Sinclair, Dr. Fothergill, Mr. Whitehurst, etc. 



Sir John Sinclair recorded a very good example 

 of sturdy old age among the Greenwich pen- 

 sioners who were living in 1802. Ninety-five of 

 them were over eighty years of age. 



Their habits would scarcely be considered as 

 conducive to old age. Forty-two of the ninety- 

 five were moderate drinkers, the remainder were 

 in the habit of drinking freely, some of them 

 " very freely " ; fifty-nine were in the habit of 

 chewing tobacco, while most of the others took 

 snuff. 



These men were each allowed two quarts of 

 beer per day with their meals, so that the mode- 

 rate drinkers, if they took their full rations, were 

 in the habit of taking as much beer as to-day 

 would make some people drunk. Those who drank 

 freely we should probably consider as regular 

 tipplers. One of these pensioners, John Moore, 

 was 102 years of age, and had served thirty-one 

 years in the Navy. According to statistics, he 

 drank freely, chewed tobacco freely, and had 

 four new teeth. Dr. Jameson, in commenting on 

 the teeth, says that third teeth are commonly 

 accounted a great mark of old age. The famous 

 Countess of Desmond, who lived to the great 

 age of 140 years, is said to have had a third set 

 of teeth. 



According to Easton, "On Longevity," 1799, 

 there were records of 1,712 centenarians during 

 23 



