MAN 
live no longer when the circulation ceafes. Thus 
the body dies by little and little; all it's fundlions 
are weakened by degrees ; life is driven from one 
part of the frame to another; univerfal rigidity 
prevails ; and death at laft clofes the fcene. 
As the bones, the cartilages, the mufcles, and 
all other parts of the body, are fofter in Women 
than in Men, thofe parts muft of confequence 
require a longer time to arrive at that rigidity 
which accelerates death. Women, therefore, 
ouglit to enjoy a longer period before they grow 
old than Men : and this is actually the cafe ; for 
if we confult fuch tables as re^e<5t the duration 
of human life, we fhall find that, after a certain 
age, they are much longer lived than Men, all 
other circumftances the fame ; and that a Woman 
arrived at her fixtieth year Hands a much better 
chance than a Man of the fame age to live till 
eighty. On the whole, we may infer, that fuch 
perfons as have been flow in reaching maturity, 
will aifo be flow in growing old; and this remark 
holds good not only with refpeft to Man, but 
all other animals. 
The whole duration of the life of either vege- 
tables or animals may in fome meafiire be deter- 
mined from their manner of coming to maturity. 
The tree, or the animal, which is but a fhort time 
in attaining to it's utmoft pitch, perifhes much 
earlier than fuch as are lefs premature. In both, 
the increafe upwards is firfl accomplifhed; and till 
thev have acquired their greateft degree of height, 
they do not begin to fpread in bulk. Man 
grows in ftature till about the age of feventeen 
or eighteen ; but his body is not compleatly de- 
veloped till near thirty. Dogs, on the other 
hand, arrive at their utmoft fize in one year, and 
generally attain their full proportions in another. 
Man, hov/ever, who is fo long in growing, fome- 
times lives to the age of fourfcore, or even an 
hundred years; but the dog feldom to above that 
of twelve or thirteen. In general alfo, it maybe 
faid, that large animals live longer than fmall 
ones, as they ufually take more time in arriving 
at maturity: but with refpeft to all animals, one 
thing is equally certain, namely, that they carry 
the caufes of their own decay about them ; and 
that their deaths are neceflary and inevitable. The 
ideas of thofe vifionaries who conceived the pof- 
fibility of perpetuating human life by the ufe of 
certain medicines, would have perilhed with them- 
felves, if felf-love did not always induce us to 
believe what exceeds the powers of nature, and 
to be fceptical with regard to the mofl: certain 
and invariable truths. The univerfal panacea, 
the transfufion of the blood, and other methods 
which have been propofed to render the human 
frame immortal, are as chimerical as the fountain 
of youth is fabulous. 
When the natural flamina are good, life may 
perhaps be prolonged for a few years, by mode- 
rating the paflions, by temperance, and by ab- 
ftemioufnefs. The famous Cornaro, who lived 
to above an hundred years, though his conflitution 
was naturally feeble, is a flrong inflance of the 
advantages of an abflemious life. Moderation in 
thofe paflions which are moft injurious to repofe 
may alfo contribute to extend the term of our 
exillence. The celebrated Fontenelle was natu- 
rally of a very weak and delicate habit of body: 
the fmallefl: irregularities affedled him, and he had 
frequently fufi^ered fevere fits of illnefs from the 
flightefl caufes. But the remarkable equality of 
M A N 
his temper, and his feeming exemption from paf- 
fion, prolonged his life to upwards of a hundred 
years: and it was obferved, that nothing could 
vex or render him uneafy; that every occurrence 
feemed equally pieafing; and that no event, how- 
ever adverfe, appeared to comiC unexpected . 
However, no human art can prolong the pe- 
riod of life to any confiderable extent. We are 
indeed told of Men who exceeded the ordinary 
duration of human exiftence ; fuch as Par, who 
lived to the furprifing age of one hundred and 
forty- four; and Jenkins, to that of one hundred 
and fixty-five: yet thofe Men ufed no peculiar 
arts to prolong life ; on the contrary, it appears 
that they, as well as fome others remarkable for 
their longevity, were peafants, who fupported the 
greatefl: fatigues, and who had no fettled regi- 
men, but often indulged in accidental exceflts. 
The varieties of climate, and of the modes of 
living, make no real difference as to the period 
of our exiflrence, which is the fame in the Euro- 
pean, the Negro, the Chinefe, the American, the 
civilized and the favage, the rich and the poor, 
the citizen and the peafant. Neither does the 
difference of races, of food, or of accommoda- 
tion, make any confiderable alteration in the du- 
ration of life: Men who feed on raw fllefh, or 
dried fifh ; on fago, or rice ; on caflfada, or roots ; 
live as long as thofe who are nourifhed with bread 
and prepared viftuals. It is therefore apparent, 
that the duration of life has no dependance either 
on manners, cufl:oms, or the qualities of parti- 
cular food ; and that, if luxury and intemperance 
be excepted, nothing can alter thofe laws of me- 
chanifiii which regulate the number of our years. 
If there be any real difference in the various 
periods afligned to Man's exiflrence, it ought 
principally to be afcribed to the quality of the 
air. It has been obferved that, in elevated fitua- 
tions, there have been found more perfons ad- 
vanced in years than in liich as are low or cham- 
paign. The mountains of Scodand, Wales, 
Auvergne, and Switzerland, have furnilhed more 
inftances of longevity than the plains of Poland, 
Holland, Flanders, or Germany. But, in general, 
the duration of life is nearly the fame in moft 
countries. Man, if exempted from accidental 
difeafes, is often found to live to ninety or a hun- 
dred years: our anceftors did not exceed that 
date; and, for many hundreds of years, we have 
fufhcient evidence that this term has undergone 
little alteration. 
Should it be afked, why the firft races of Men 
lived fo much longer than at prefent, and by 
what means their lives were extended to nine 
hundred and fixty years ; it may be replied, that 
the productions of the earth, on which they fed, 
might perhaps be of a different nature, at that 
time, from what they are at prefent. It may 
likewife be anfwered, that the term was abridged 
by divine command after the earth was fufficient- 
ly ftocked with inhabitants; fince, if every perfon 
were now to live and generate for nine hundred 
years, mankind would be increafed to fuch a de- 
gree, that there would be no room for fubfift- 
ence : fo that the plan of Providence would be 
altered, which invariably provides a fupply in 
proportion to the produdlion of life. 
Independent of accidental difeafes, which are 
more frequent and dangerous in the latter periods 
of life, old people are fubjedl to natural infirmi- 
ties, originating folely from the decay of dif- 
ferent 
1 
