CENTENARIANISM 



The somewhat unwieldy word standing at the head 

 of this page is coined in order to take the place of 

 that much-abused term " longevity," which is often 

 made to do duty in a restricted sense, to its detri- 

 ment. Longevity simply means " length of life " ; 

 and it can serve no good purpose to limit its applica- 

 tion to those cases of length of life which are beyond 

 the normal period among men : it is required for 

 more general use ; and hence we may, with advantage, 

 speak of old people who reach or exceed one hundred 

 years of age as examples of centenarianism, instead of 

 calling them examples of longevity. Every now and 

 then, with more frequency and regularity than is pre- 

 sented by perhaps any other periodic topic, centen- 

 arianism excites the public interest. Another case is 

 announced of an individual having exceeded one 

 hundred years of age : paragraphs go the round of 

 the newspapers, the medical journals report on the 

 case. Sir George Cornewall Lewis is declared to be 

 refuted, and the subject drops. It is a little strange 

 at first sight, this interest which is manifested in 

 monstrosities of life-duration. The men and women 

 who have so far distinguished themselves among their 



