The Hijlory of Life and Death. 



Longer jfor the moft pare , when the timesare barbarous, and Men fare lelfe cklsci- 

 oufly , and are more given to bodily Excrcifes : Shorter, when the times are more Ci- 

 vil , and Men abandon themielvcs to Luxury and Eafe. But thefe things pafle on by 

 their turnes : The Succcinon of Generations alters it not. The lame, no doubt, is in 

 other living Creatures :' For neither Oxen, nor Horlcs , nor Sheep, nor any the 

 like, are abridged of their wonted Ages at this day. And therefore the Great A- 

 bridgerof Age was the Ehud : And perhaps , iom- tuch notable Accidents; (As 

 particular Inundations, Lang Droughts, Earth- quakes , or the like, may doe thef.ime 

 again. And the like reafon is , in the Dimenfion and Stature of Bcdies ; For neither 

 are they letiened by fuccefiion of Generations ; Howibeverf/Vg?/ (following the vul- 

 gar Opinion) Divined, that Afcer-ages would bring forth lefler Bodies , than the 

 then prelent : whereupon lpeaking or plowing up the Emathianyxid Emonenfian Fields, 

 He [xifryGrandiaq • ejf>f is mirabttur offts fepulchris : That after ages (hall admire the 

 great bones digged up in ancient Sepulchres- For whereas it is mamrelted that there 

 were heretofore men of Gigantine Statures, (fuch>as tor certain, h.ive been found in Si- 

 cily , and elf-where, inancicn: Sepulchres, and Caves,) yet within thefe kit three 

 thoufand yeares : A time, whereof we have lure memory : Thofe very Places have pro- 

 duced none luch : Although this Thing alio hath certaine Turns and Changes , by the 

 Civilliziug of a Nation, nulefle than the former. And this is the rather tobc noted, 

 becaufe men are wholly carried away with an Opinion: That there is a continual 

 Decay by fucceltion of Ages , as well in the Term of mans life , as in the 

 Stature and Itrength of his Body: And that all things decline a and change Co the 

 worfe. 



In Cold^ and Northern Countries, M:n live longer, commonly,than in Hot : which 

 mult needs be, in relpect : The Ssinne is more compact and dole : And the Juices of 

 the body lelfe diihpable : And the Spirits themfclves lelfe Eager to confume , and in 

 better difpofition to repaire ; And the aire , (as being little heated by the Sun-beams) 

 lelfe Predatory : And yet, under the zALquinottial Line ^ where the Sunne palfech to 

 and fro , and caufetn a doubh Summer , and double Winter : And where the Dayes 

 and Nights are more Equal : (If other Things be concurring, ) they live alio very long: 

 As in Peru, and Taprobane. 



Jflanders are, for die 111011 part, bnger liv'd , than thofe that live 111 Continents-Vox 

 they live notlo long in Rajfut, as 111 the Orcades: Nor lb long in AfricA > though un- 

 der the fame Parallel, as in the (fananes , and Terceras : And the Japanians, are lon- 

 ger liv'd, than the Chinefcs : Though the Chinees are mide upon Long life. And this 

 thing is no mervaile : Seeing the Aire or the Sea doth heat and chenfh in cooler Regt- 

 ons,and coole in hotter. 



High Situations , doe rather afford long Livers , than Lnv ; Elpecially, if they be 

 not Tops of Mountaines, but Riling Grounds , as to their general Situations; Such as 

 was Arcadia in Greece ; And that part of \Altolia , where werelated them, to have li- 

 ved lb long. Now there would be the lame Realbn , for Mountaines themfclves , be- 

 caufe of the pure nefle ar>d clearr.efle of the Aire , buc that they are corrupted by acci 

 dent : Namely, by the Vapours , Riling thither out of the Vallies , and Relting there 

 And therefore in Snowy (JMountatns, &here is not tound any Notable long Life; Not 

 in the A//^ not in Tjrenean Mountains, not in the Appenine : Yet in the tops of the 

 Mountains^ running along towards Ethiopia , and the Aby {fines ; where by realbn 

 of the Sands beneath, little or 110 Vapour rifeth to the (JMountatns, they live long,even 

 at this very Day ; Attaining, many times, to an hundred and fifty yearcs. 



LMjrfbes, and Fens, arc Propitious to the Natives, arid Mdignant to Strangers, as 

 touching the Lengthning, and Shortning of their lives: And that which may feem 

 more Marvellous, Salt Marjhes, where die Sea ebsand flows, are lelfe wholfomc than 

 thofe of Frefh water. 



Tae Countries, which have been obf rved,to produce long Livers,are thefe ; Arcadia^ 

 usErolid^frtdia^o'ithw iide Ganges^Br.ifl^l \jprobaxc y ttritaine,'reland t \Niih the Illands 

 of the Orcades, and Hebrides : For as for Ethiopia, which by one of the Ancients, is 

 reported to bring forth long Livers ; It is buc a Toy. 



It is a Secret; The Healthfulnejfe of Aire , cfp:ci :lly in any Perfection,' is better 

 found )y Experiment, than by Difcoxrfe , or ConjeSture. You may make a Trial by a 

 lock of Wool, expofedj for a few dayes, in the open Aire ; if the weight be not much 



increafed : 



