THE ART OF PROLONGING LIFE. 769 



tional." Riding is an excellent form of exercise, but available 

 only by a few ; the habit, if acquired in early life, should be kept 

 up as long as possible, subject to the caution already given as to 

 violent exercise. Old persons of both sexes fond of gardening, 

 and so situated that they may gratify their tastes, are much to be 

 envied. " Fortunati nimium, sua si bona norint ! " * Body and 

 mind are alike exercised by what Lord Bacon justly termed " the 

 purest of human pleasures." Dr. Parkes goes so far as to say that 

 light garden or agricultural work is a very good exercise for men 

 past seventy : " It calls into play the muscles of the abdomen and 

 back, which in old men are often but little used, and the work is 

 so varied that no muscle is kept long in action." A few remarks 

 must be made, in conclusion, with regard to a new form of exer- 

 cise sometimes indulged in even by elderly men. I allude to so- 

 called " tricycling." Exhilarating and pleasant as it may be to 

 glide over the ground with comparatively little effort, the exer- 

 cise is fraught with danger for men who have passed the grand 

 climacteric. The temptation to make a spurt must be often irre- 

 sistible ; hills must be encountered, some perhaps so smooth and 

 gradual as to require no special exertion, none, at least, that is 

 noticed in the triumph of surmounting them. Now, if the heart 

 and lungs be perfectly sound, such exercises may be practiced for 

 some time with apparent impunity ; but if (as is very likely to be 

 the case) these organs be not quite structurally perfect, even the 

 slightest changes will, under such excitement, rapidly progress 

 and lead to very serious results. Exercise unsuited to the state 

 of the system will assuredly not tend to the prolongation of life. 



With regard to food, we find from Dr. Humphry's report that 

 ninety per cent of the aged persons were either " moderate " or 

 " small " eaters, and such moderation is quite in accord with the 

 teachings of physiology. In old age the changes in the bodily 

 tissues gradually become less and less active, and less food is re- 

 quired to make up for the daily waste. The appetite and the 

 power of digestion are correspondingly diminished, and although 

 for the attainment of a great age a considerable amount of digest- 

 ive power is absolutely necessary, its perfection, when exercised 

 upon proper articles of diet, is the most important characteristic. 

 Indulgence in the pleasures of the table is one of the common 

 errors of advanced life, and is not infrequent in persons who, up 

 to that period, were moderate or even small eaters. Luxuries in 

 the way of food are apt to be regarded as rewards that have been 

 fully earned by a life of labor, and may, therefore, be lawfully en- 

 joyed. Hence arise many of the evils and troubles of old age, and 

 notably indigestion and gouty symptoms in various forms, besides 

 mental discomfort. No hard and fast rules can be laid down, but 



* [Fortunate beyond measure if they know their own advantages.] 

 vol, xxxt. — 49 



