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presents, and its tender fibres, as it were, the more readily grasp the difficulties of primary education.

I believe it would be better for all children not to partake of solid or hearty food to a greater extent than is necessary to support life and health. Let them feed sufficiently on fruits and vegetables, and let the beverage be only water. Great care should be exercised not to cultivate a morbid appetite in children by stuffing and feasting them on confectionery, saccharine food, cakes or pies—a reasonable amount would not be objectionable, but stated meals of such diet should positively be prohibited.

My judgment may differ from many, but when we live for health, we live for happiness, and that seems to be the one object in life, although we may travel different roads to obtain it.

THE INFLUENCE OF CIVILIZATION ON LON

GEVITY.

By J. R. BORLAND, M. D., Franklin, Penn.

In the consideration of the subject assigned me, I have found great and almost insurmountable difficulties. Ancient history is silent, except in the matter of giving the ages to which some of its most noted statesmen and philosophers attained. We have no data to indicate the rate of mortalityno average of human life. The history of the civilized nations of antiquity, the records of the times in which were built the pyramids, the Acropolis and the Pantheon, are not available for the purpose. I must turn to modern times. I look through the Histories of Civilization, in Modern Europe, by Buckle and by Guizot. They, too, are silent. Even the records of Life Assurance, the tables of life assurance companies deal more in expectancies, based upon selected lives.

The proper consideration of this subject would involve and take cognizance of nearly every branch of human knowledge -the laws of physical, moral and social life; the social, polit

ical and financial policy of nations; their hygienic and sanitary conditions; the influence of various arts and trades upon the measure of life, etc., requiring a mass of information and statistics not yet formulated. One has said: "Civilization is a work which is always doing and never done." To give the proper direction to map out this subject with mathematical precision is beyond my power.

WHAT CIVILIZATION IS.

Guizot says: "Two elements seem to be comprised in the great fact we call civilization; two circumstances are necessary to its existence-it lives upon two conditions-it reveals itself by two symptoms; the progress of society, the progress of individuals; the melioration of the social system and the expansion of the mind and faculties of man." We will notice the conditions requisite to civilization and upon which longevity depends. 1st. A stable government, 2d. Protection of life and property. 3d. Agreeable social and domestic relations. 4th. A reasonable assurance of food and raiment. 5th. Physical, moral and mental freedom. 6th. Comfortable dwellings. Does our civilization bestow all these?

In considering the subject of longevity as influenced by civilization, I feel that I am traversing on almost unbroken territory; inviting in its novelty, grand in its prospects; a wilderness, as it were, which, when properly cleared and cultivated, will yield a profitable return to the generations to come. I can only indite the preface, as it were, to this interesting subject-to the great book yet to be written of the observations which, in the main, are yet to be made.

THE PROSPECT.

There is every reason to believe that as civilization extends, as the laws that affect health are understood and acted upon, the duration of life will be much increased. Instances of longevity show what the human frame is capable of attaining to; and as the laws of health come to be more observed, healthier parents will give birth to healthier children from generation to generation. Indeed, there are not want

ing those who look upon the natural duration of life as a hundred years, and who literally receive the language of the prophet, that "there shall be no man thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days; for the child shall die a hundred years, and they shall build houses and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” *

This prophecy is in some points literally fulfilled. Under favorable conditions, it is well-known that many instances are on record of a hundred years being attained. These undoubtedly inherited a vigorous constitution from healthy parents, and it would be of advantage to us to note their management in early infancy and childhood, as to regimen, exercise, occupation, physical and mental, and the several other cicumstances included under the general term, mode of life.

The conditions, then, to secure longevity are: first, a vigorous constitution; second, propitious circumstances. If long life is attained by the few, cannot the same conditions be secured to place it within the reach of the many? The general diffusion of knowledge, incident to the civilized state, tends to establish habits favorable to health.

Some contend that civilization is a departure from nature; that it tends to increase our wants and responsibilities; that it is attended with harrassing embarrassments which tend to shorten life by their worry, rather than to give that repose which would tend to lengthen it; and that plagues and epidemics are engendered and propagated by overcrowding and the attending evils of bad nourishment and insufficient ventilation; that in the civilized state population being more dense, human effluvia are increased, disease-producing germs more prevalent, and contagious epidemics more destructive.

These declarations are worthy of attention. Unless these conditions can be met and counteracted by the knowledge which it is the province of science, as developed by civiliza*ZELL'S Encyclopedia.

tion, to confer, these objections are well founded. Instances are by no means wanting in their support of their theory. The yellow fever at Memphis is one. Does civilization have or evolve the knowledge to prevent these baleful conditions? It is generally conceded, and statistics confirm it, that the mortality-data are higher and the average of life shorter in cities, than in the country-towns and districts. Statistical writers have endeavored to obtain a general measure of mortality for all countries taken together; but when the mortality in different countries, situations and races differs so much as from one in twenty to one in sixty, no satisfactory average of this character can be made.

แ "There is one leading circumstance, however, affecting the mortality of countries, which may be considered as very general, and which is at the same time completely open to observation. This is the number of towns and the proportion of town to country inhabitants. The unfavorable effects of close habitations and sedentary employments upon the health are universal; and, therefore, on the number of people living in this manner, compared with the number employed in agriculture, will much depend the general mortality of the State. Upon this principle, it has been calculated that, when the proportion of the people in the towns to those in the country is as one to three, then the mortality is about one to thirtysix; which rises to one in thirty-five, or one in thirty-three when the proportion of townsmen to villagers is two to seven, or three to seven; and falls below one in thirty-six, when this proportion is two to seven, or one to four. On these grounds the mortality in Prussia is one in thirty-eight; in Pomerania, one in thirty-seven and one-half; in the Neumark, one in thirty-seven; in the Churmark, one in thirty-five; according to the lists for 1756."*

According to Crome, in general conclusions upon the observations of Sussmilch and others of late years: "the States of Europe may be divided into three classes to which a different measure of mortality ought to be applied. In the richest and most populous States, where the inhabitants of the towns are *SUSSMILCH: Gottliche Ordnury, vol. III., p. 60.

to the inhabitants of the country in so high in proportion as one to three, the mortality may be taken as one in thirty. In those countries which are in a middle state with regard to population and cultivation, the mortality may be considered as one to thirty-two. And in the thinly-peopled Northern States, Sussmilch's proportion of one in thirty-six may be applied. These proportions seem to make the general mortality too great, even after allowing epidemic years to have their full effect in the calculations. The improved habits of cleanliness, which appear to have prevailed of late years in most of the towns of Europe, have probably, in point of salubrity, more than counterbalanced their increased size."*

This last sentence is full of significance, that cleanliness promotes longevity. The value with which life is invested increases as civilization progresses.

ADVANTAGES OF MODERN CIVILIZATION.

We enjoy many advantages the ancients did not possess, among which are many labor-saving and life-preserving inventions. The telegraph gives us warning of disasters; steam furnishes us with the means of rapid transit by land and water. Thus disasters, caused by the elements, are by these means rendered less harmful. We are informed of the approach of an epidemic, and the stricken ones are cared for and the others removed to places of safety; famine is robbed of its terrors. The surplus of population and food are distributed where they are needed, and a healthful balance is maintained between supply and demand. The charity of communities is quickly enlisted to relieve want and suffering. Nation vies with nation in relieving famine. These all tend to promote longer life by increasing its average.

LONGEVITY OF INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES AND RACES. "The average duration of life in Europe according to statistical calculations, lies somewhere between twenty-six and thirty-three years; the highest average occurs in countries

*MALTHUS: Principles of Population, p. 162.

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