LONGEVITY. 



ble to long life. Heat relaxes and enfee- 

 bles, while cold consolidates and strength- 

 ens the human frame. The diet also of 

 hot countries is less nourishing than that 

 of cold ones ; and there is generally a 

 greater disposition, and greater oppor- 

 tunities to indulge in various excesses in 

 the former, than in the latter. There are 

 however a few instances of natives of very 

 hot climates having attained to great age, 

 but they have been chiefly negroes in the 

 West Indies and America, whose ages 

 were probably not very correctly ascer- 

 tained. 



2. Parentage. Being born of healthy 

 parents, and exempted from hereditary 

 disease, are circumstances evidently fa- 

 vourable to the duration of life ; and nu- 

 merous instances warrant the opinion, 

 that longevity prevails in some families 

 more than in others, or that descent from 

 long-lived ancestors is one of the circum- 

 stances which give the greatest probabili- 

 ty of attaining to extreme old age. 



3. Pom and size of the individual. It is 

 generally admitted, that persons of a 

 compact shape, and of a moderate stature, 

 are the most likely to live long. Tall 

 persons frequently acquire a habit of 

 stooping, which contracts the chest, and 

 is a great impediment to free respiration ; 

 whereas the short sized find little diffi- 

 culty in keeping themselves erect, and 

 are naturally much more active, by which 

 the animal functions are retained in a 

 state of greater perfection ; the only dis- 

 advantage attending a short stature is, 

 that it is frequently accompanied with 

 corpulence, which is rather unfavourable 

 to long 1 life. 



4. Disposition of JWind. Nothing is 

 more conducive to longevity than to pre- 

 serve equanimity and good spirits, and 

 not to sink under the disappointments of 

 life, to which all, but particularly the old, 

 are necessarily subjected. This is a point 

 which cannot be too much inculcated, as 

 experience continually shows that many 

 perish from despondency, who, if they 

 had preserved their spirits and vigour of 

 mind, might have survived many years 

 longer. Neither the irritable, who are 

 agitated by trifles, nor the melancholy, 

 who magnify the evils of life, can expect 

 to live long. Even those who suflTer their 

 strength and spirits to be exhausted by 

 severe study, or other mental exertions, 

 seldom reach great age. In the list be- 

 fore referred to, of 1712 persons who 

 Jived about a century, Fontenelle (who 

 did not quite reach 100 years) is the only 

 author of any note ; and his great age is 

 nscribed to the tranquil ease of his tem- 



per, and that liveliness of spirits for 

 which he was much distinguished. Among 

 those who have devoted themselves to 

 the study or practice of music, a profes- 

 sion which encourages cheerfulness of 

 mind, instances of great age have been 

 very frequent. 



5. Occupation. No person that leads 

 an idle life will ever attain to great age ; 

 but health and long life must depend 

 much on the manner in which the indivi- 

 dual is employed. Those occupations 

 are certainly the most conducive to the 

 duration of life, which are carried on in 

 the open air, and require activity or la- 

 bour; thus farmers, gardeners, and la- 

 bourers in the country, are in general 

 the longest lived. Foot soldiers, also, 

 who have survived the dangers of war, 

 are remarkable for long life : they are 

 generally stout and vigorous men, and 

 the regularity to which surviving soldiers 

 must have accustomed themselves, whilst 

 their careless and disorderly companions 

 have dropped off, the erect "posture to 

 which they have been trained, and being 

 of course men well formed by nature, and 

 habituated to walk well (by which they 

 enjoy the most natural exercise in per- 

 fection) all combine in their favour. 

 Sailors also would furnish many instances 

 of longevity, if comfortably provided for 

 in their old age ; of this a striking proof 

 is given in the accounts drawn up by Dr. 

 Robertson of the pensioners in Green- 

 wich Hospital. In the year 1801, the 

 complement of in-pensioners was 2410, 

 of whom there were 96 of the age of 80 

 years and upwards ; of this number 13 

 were above 90 years of age, and one man 

 102 years old. The number of out-pen- 

 sioners was about 2500, of whom it ap- 

 peared there were only 23 from 80 years 

 of age and upwards. Of the former there- 

 fore about 4 in 100 survived 80 years of 

 age, but of the latter not 1 in 100 attained 

 that age, a sufficient evidence of the bene- 

 fits of regularity and ease in the advanced 

 period of life, and of the attention paid 

 to the health of the in-pensioners at that 

 excellent institution. 



6. Mode of Living^. If persons were to 

 live with the simplicity of ancient times, 

 it is probable that they would attain long 

 life, without experiencing any material 

 illness, merely by a proper attention to 

 air, exercise, clothing, and diet. But in 

 the present state of society, the great bulk 

 of the community follow, not a natural, 

 but an artificial, mode of life, and thence 

 are perpetually exposed to various temp- 

 tations, wjiich they find it difficult always 

 to resist, and to dangers which they can- 



