The Intimate Causes of Old Age. 229 



rates, and redacts, and but for organic rather than in- 

 tracellular errata, would do so indefinitely, if the cells 

 could be well nourished and protected. 



Yet, let no misapprehension accompany this deduction. 

 The cell is itself a small organism which does not as yet 

 live so perfectly in the animal body as to be free from the 

 errata of earthly life, and hence is not yet free from the " old 

 age " tendency. It, too, still suffers a deterioration, 

 probably, even in the best constituted organism, although 

 the ideal and intent of the organic union is to purvey for 

 the cell a perfect, deathless life. 



We mean, that owing to imperfect food and imperfect 

 living generally, the component cells of the human organ- 

 ism still suffer a progressive involution which in the 

 course of two centuries, perhaps, would bring the organ- 

 ism to a stand-still, and cause it to die of true cell old 

 age. For there is organic old age and cell old age. Our 

 problem of alleviation concerns both, but at present the 

 former more urgently than the latter, since apparently the 

 deterioration of the somatic cell is self-remediable and may 

 be left to remedy itself under better conditions of nutrition 

 and protection. It is therefore to organic old age that 

 scientific effort can be most advantageously directed at 

 present. ' ' 



Such is the human situation on the earth, a situation 

 which appears to have come about, under nature, without 



