772 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Warmth, is very important for the aged; exposure to chills 

 should be scrupulously avoided. Bronchitis is the malady most 

 to be feared, and its attacks are very easily provoked. Many old 

 people suffer from more or less cough during the winter months, 

 and this symptom may recur year after year, and be almost un- 

 heeded. At last, perhaps a few minutes' exposure to a cold wind 

 increases the irritation in the lungs, the cough, becomes worse, and 

 the difficulty of breathing increases until suffocation terminates 

 in death. To obviate such risk the skin should be carefully pro- 

 tected by warm flannel clothes, the outdoor thermometer should 

 be noticed, and winter garments should always be at hand. In 

 cold weather the lungs should be protected by breathing through 

 the nose as much as possible, and by wearing a light woolen or 

 silken muffler over the mouth. The temperature of the sitting- 

 and bed-rooms is another point which requires attention. Some 

 old people pride themselves on never requiring a fire in their bed- 

 rooms. It is, however, a risky practice to exchange a tempera- 

 ture of 65° or 70° for one fifteen or twenty degrees lower. As a 

 general rule, for persons sixty-five years of age and upward, the 

 temperature of the bed-room should not be below 60°, and when 

 there are any symptoms of bronchitis it should be raised from five 

 to ten degrees higher. 



Careful cleansing of the skin is the last point which needs to 

 be mentioned in an article like the present. Attention to cleanli- 

 ness is decidedly conducive to longevity, and we may congratulate 

 ourselves on the general improvement in our habits in this respect. 

 Frequent washing with warm water is very advantageous for old 

 people, in whom the skin is only too apt to become hard and dry ; 

 and the benefit will be increased if the ablutions be succeeded by 

 friction with coarse flannel or linen gloves, or with a flesh-brush. 

 Every part of the skin should be thus washed and rubbed daily. 

 The friction removes worn-out particles of the skin, and the exer- 

 cise promotes warmth and excites perspiration. Too much atten- 

 tion can hardly be paid to the state of the skin ; the comfort of 

 the aged is greatly dependent upon the proper discharge of its 

 functions. 



Such, then, are the principal measures by which life may be 

 prolonged and health maintained down to the closing scene. It 

 remains to be seen whether, as a result of progress of knowledge 

 and civilization, life will ever be protracted beyond the limit as- 

 signed to it in a preceding paragraph. There is no doubt that tho 

 average duration of human life is capable of very great extension, 

 and that the same causes which serve to prolong life materially 

 contribute toward the happiness of mankind. The experience of 

 the last few decades abundantly testifies to the marked improve- 

 ment which has taken place in the public health. Statistics show 



