than an instinctive fear of danger, and cling to life without knowing what death is, men have acquired an exact idea of death, and their knowledge increases their desire to live. Ought we to listen to the cry of humanity that life is too short and that it would be well to prolong it? Would it really be for the good of the human race to extend the duration of the life of man beyond its present limits? Already it is complained that the burden of supporting old people is too heavy, and statesmen are perturbed by the enormous expense which will be entailed by State support of the aged. In France, in a population of about 38 millions, there are two millions (1,912,153) who have reached the age of 70, that is to say, about five per cent. of the total. The support of these old people absorbs a sum of nearly £6,000,000 per annum. However generous may be the views of the members of the French Parliament, many of them hesitate at the idea of so great a burden. Without doubt, men say, the cost of maintaining the aged will become still heavier if the duration of life is to be prolonged. If old people are to live longer, the resources of the young will be reduced. If the question were merely one of prolonging the life of old people without modifying old age itself, such considerations would be justified. It must be understood, however, that the prolongation of life would be associated with the preservation of intelligence and of the power to work. In the earlier parts of this book I have given many examples which show the possibility of useful work being done by persons of advanced years. When we have reduced or abolished such causes of precocious senility as intemperance and disease, it will no longer be necessary to give pensions 1 Rapport de M. Bienvenu-Martin à la Chambre des députés, Paris, 1903. at the age of sixty or seventy years. The cost of supporting the old, instead of increasing, will diminish progressively. If attainment of the normal duration of life, which is much greater than the average life to-day, were to overpopulate the earth, a very remote possibility, this could be remedied by lowering the birth-rate. Even at the present time, while the earth is far from being too quickly peopled, artificial limitation of the birth-rate takes place perhaps to an unnecessary extent. It has long been a charge against medicine and hygiene that they tend to weaken the human race. By scientific means unhealthy people, or those with inherited blemishes, have been preserved so that they can give birth to weak offspring. If natural selection were allowed free play, such individuals would perish and make room for others, stronger and better able to live. Haeckel has given the name "medical selection" to this process under which humanity. degenerates because of the influence of medical science. It is clear that a valuable existence of great service to humanity is compatible with a feeble constitution and precarious health. Amongst tuberculous people, those with inherited or acquired syphilis, and those with a constitution unbalanced in other ways, that is to say, amongst so-called degenerates, there have been individuals who have had a large share in the advance of the human race. I need only instance the names of Fresnel, Leopardi, Weber, Schumann and Chopin. It does not follow that we ought to cherish diseases and leave to natural selection the duty of preserving the individuals which can resist them. On the other hand, it is indispensable to try to blot out the diseases themselves, and, in particular, the evils of old age, by the methods of hygiene and therapeutics. The theory of medical selection must be given up as contrary to the good of the human race. We must use all our endeavours to allow men to complete their normal course of life, and to make it possible for old men to play their parts as advisers and judges, endowed with their long experience of life. To the question propounded at the beginning of this section of my book, I can make only one answer: Yes, it is useful to prolong human life. II SUGGESTIONS FOR THE PROLONGATION OF LIFE Ancient methods of prolonging human life-Gerokomy— Séquard's method-The spermine of Poehl-Dr. Weber's MEN of all times have attempted all manner of devices to bring about an increase of years, although they have not considered the problem in its general bearing. In Biblical times it was believed that contact with young girls would rejuvenate and prolong the life of feeble old men. In the first Book of Kings it is related as follows: "Now King David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat. "Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my Lord the king a young virgin; let her stand before the king and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat" (Kings I., chap. i.). This device, afterwards called gerokomy, was employed by the Greeks and Romans, and has had followers in modern times. Boerhave, the famous Dutch physician (1668—1738), "recommended an old burgomaster of Amsterdam to lie between two young girls, assuring him that he would thus recover strength and spirits." After quoting this, Hufeland, the well-known author of "Macro biotique" in the eighteenth century, made the following reflection :-"If it be remembered how the exhalations from newly opened animals stimulate paralysed limbs, and how the application of living animals soothes a violent pain, we cannot refuse our approval to the method."1 Cohausen, a doctor of the eighteenth century, published a treatise on a Roman, Hermippus, who had died aged a hundred and fifteen years. He had been a master in a school for young girls, and his life, passed in their midst, was greatly prolonged. Accordingly," commented Hufeland (p. 6), “he gives the excellent advice to breathe the air of young girls night and morning, and gives his assurance that by so doing the vital forces will be strengthened and preserved, as adepts know well that the breath of young girls contains the vital principle in all its purity." In the Eastern half of the world equal ingenuity was exercised in the attempt to rejuvenate the body and renew the forces of man. The successors of Lao-Tsé searched for a beverage that would confer immortality and have recounted extraordinary matters concerning it. The Emperor of China, Chi-Hoang-Ti (221-209 B.C.), displayed extreme friendliness to the Taoists, believing that these had the secret of long life and immortality. In his reign, Su-Chi, a Taoist magician, persuaded him that eastwards of China there lay fortunate islands inhabited by genii whose pleasure it was to give their guests to drink of a beverage conferring immortality. Chi-Hoang-Ti was so delighted with the news that he equipped an expedition to discover the islands.2 1 L'Art de prolonger la vie humaine (French translation), Lausanne, 1809, p. 5. 2 A. Réville, Histoire des religions, vol. iii, Paris, 1889, p. 428. |