THE ART OF PROLONGING LIFE. 765 



be regarded as causes of longevity. Not a few old persons are 

 found on inquiry to take credit to themselves for their own con- 

 dition, and to attribute it to some remarkable peculiarity in their 

 habits or mode of life. It is said that Lord Mansfield, who 

 reached the age of eighty-nine, was wont to inquire into the hab- 

 its of life of all aged witnesses who appeared before him, and that 

 only in one habit, namely, that of early rising, was there any 

 general concurrence. Health is doubtless often promoted by early 

 rising, but the habit is not necessarily conducive to longevity. It 

 is, as Sir H. Holland points out, more probable that the vigor of 

 the individuals maintains the habit than that the latter alone 

 maintains the vitality. 



If we pass from probable to improbable causes of longevity we 

 are confronted by many extravagant assumptions. Thus, to take 

 only a few examples, the immoderate use of sugar has been re- 

 garded not only as a panacea, but as decidedly conducive to length 

 of days. Dr. Slare, a physician of the last century, has recorded 

 the case of a centenarian who used to mix sugar with all his food, 

 and the doctor himself was so convinced of the " balsamic virtue " 

 of this substance that he adopted the practice, and boasted of his 

 health and strength in his old age. Another member of the same 

 profession used to take daily doses of tannin (the substance em- 

 ployed to harden and preserve leather), under the impression that 

 the tissues of the body would be thereby protected from decay. 

 His life was protracted beyond the ordinary span, but it is ques- 

 tionable whether the tannin acted in the desired direction. Lord 

 Combermere thought that his good health and advanced years 

 were due, in part at least, to the fact that he always wore a tight 

 belt round his waist. His lordship's appetite was doubtless 

 thereby kept within bounds ; we are further told that he was very 

 moderate in the use of all fluids as drink. Cleanliness might be 

 supposed to aid in prolonging life, yet a Mrs. Lewson, who died 

 in the early part of this century, aged one hundred and six, must 

 have been a singularly dirty person. We are told that instead of 

 washing she smeared her face with lard, and asserted that " people 

 who washed always caught cold." This lady, no doubt, was fully 

 persuaded that she had discovered the universal medicine. 



Many of the alchemists attributed the power of prolonging 

 life to certain preparations of gold, probably under the idea that 

 the permanence of the metal might be imparted to the human 

 system. Descartes is said to have favored such opinions : he told 

 Sir Kenelm Digby that, although he would not venture to promise 

 immortality, he was certain that his life might be lengthened to 

 the period of that enjoyed by the patriarchs. His plan, however, 

 seems to have been the very rational and simple one of checking 

 all excesses and enjoining punctual and frugal meals. 



