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We conclude this gossip with mention of the fact that Gervinus has published a small brochure on his political convictions—Meine Politische Ueberzungen , which , will be interesting to our German readers .
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BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . T 7 ie Poultry Booh . W . S . Orr and Co Three Original Plays . By John Wynne . T . Bosworth India : its History , Climate , Productions , and Field Sports . By J . ' H . Stocqueler . Gr . Routledge Maephail ' s Edinburgh Ecclesiastical Journal . Simpkin , Marshal ] , and Co The Scottish Educational and Literary Review . James Hogg An Inquiry into the Evidence to be found in Human Nature of a Future State . By G . G . Vincent W . Tweedie , Chapman ' s Library for the People . —The Artist ' s Married Life . Chapman ' s Quarterly Series . —1 . Tlieism , fyc . By Theodore Parker . Chapman ' s Quarterly Series . —2 . History of the Hebrew Monarchy . By F . W . Newman . John Chapman . The Pantropheon ; or , History of Food . By A . Soyer . Simpkin , Marshall , and Co . The Calcutta Revietc . Smith , Elder , and Co . The Physiology of Temperance and Total Abstinence . By W . B . Carpenter , M . D . H . G . Bohn . Bohn ' s Antiquarian Library . —Egypt , Ethiopia , and Sinai . H . Gr . Bohn . Bohn's Classical Library . —Aristophanes , Literally Translated . H . G-. Bohn . Bohn ' s Standard Library . —Miss Bremer ' s Works . By Hary Howitt . H . G . Bohn . The Universal Library . Ingram , Cooke , and Co . The Rhine . By Victor Hugo . Ingram , Cooke , and Co . Fits Alwyn , the First Lord Mayor . By Miss E . M . Stewart . Ingram , Cooke , and Co . The Life of Edmund Burke . By Peter Burkf > , Esq . Ingram , Cooke , and Co . Handbook of Foliage and Foreground . Drawings by Gr . Barnard . Ingram , Cooke , and Co . The Alain Family . Translated from the French of Alphonse Karr , by E . B . Brough . Ingram , Cooke , and Co . The Three Presidencies of India . By John Capper . Ingram , Cooke , and Co . History of France . By Emile De Bonnechose . Translated by W . Robson . G . Routledge and Co . Elements of Psychological Medicine . By Daniel Noble , F . R . C . S . John Churchill . Homoeopathy Fairly Represented : in reply to Dr . Simpson ' s Homoeopathy Misrepresented . By W . Henderson , M . D . T . Constable and Co . The Bushrangers . B y Charles Harpur . "W . R . Piddington . Why are you a Christian ? Aylott and Co . The Gentleman '' s Magazine . J . B . Nichols and Son . Percy Effingh'tm ; or , the Germ of the World's Esteem . By H . Cockton . 2 vols . G-. Routledge . Sports and Adventures in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland . By "W . H . Maxwell . G-. Routledge . Mark Sutherland ; or , Power and Principle . By E . D . E . N . Southworth . John Cassell . Old Neighbourhoods and New Settlements . By Mrs . Southworth . Clarke , Beeton , and Co . Raymond De Monthault , the Lord Marcher . By Rev . R . W . Morgan . 3 vols . R . Bentley . The Napoleon Dynasty ; or , History of 'the Bonaparte Family . Clarke , Beeton , and Co .
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LIFE : ITS DAN GEES AND DU-RATICXN . The Decline of Life in Health and Disease ; being an attempt to investigate the causes of Longevity , and the best means of attaining a healthful old age . By Barnard Van Oven , M . D . — Churchill . Hufeland's Art of Prolonging Life . Edited by Erasmus Wilson , P . K . S . Churchill , Healthy Skin : A Popular Treatise on the Skin and Hair , their Preservation and Management . By Erasmus Wilson , F . R . S . Fourth Edition , Churchill . " The man who is his own doctor has a fool for his physician : " so runs the popular adage ; and certainly , to any one having even the most superficial knowledge of the complexity of his frame , there will appear considerable justice in the adage . Ignorant of horology , no man attempts to " set his watch to rights" when it has ceased to go ; ignorant of mechanics ,, no man thinks of mending his own steam engine ; but ignorant of physiology and of pharmacy , many men prefer to trust their disordered frames to their own ignorance , rather than to the knowledge , imperfect though it be , of physicians .
But although it is obvious in theory , and confirmed in daily practice , that to meddle with our own diseases is an absurdity ; yet nothing can be more unquestionable than the wisdom and desirableness of our having some general knowledge of the laws of health , the observance of which may ward off disease . ^ Ve can , in a great measure , keep ourselves healthy ; for that we need no physician . We can learn general principles which will prevent our machinery from accidents . These principles arc not difficult of acquisition and obedience . And surely , if anything in this life be of importance , health is eminently boP No commendation can be too emphatic for good works on such a subject , addressed to the general public :: no reprobation too severe for the ignorant and quackish . We have , according to our wont , respected the exigencies of space , and brought together three books on this subject , that we may notify their existence and qualities .
Dr . Van Oven has earned a title to respectful hearing by thirty-five years of practice in an art , of all others the moat delicate and difficult ; and iitly closes his career by recording its general results , as regards longevity , in u modest and valuable work . We cannot assent to his proposition , that " there ia probably no fixed limit to our existence : " a proposition as decisively contradicted by Biology , as by universal Experience . But it is clear that comparatively lew attain the limit , few die ol old age , and that the general average of life not onl y is capable of prolongation ^ but , has been notably prolonged in modern times . Let ua , however , note the contents of Dr . Van Oven ' s volume .
The work consists of three parts . 1 st . On the " Decline of Life in Health . 2 nd . On Longevity . . 'Ird . On the Decline of Life in Disease ; or , in other Avords , on the diseases incident to old ago . Tho first part embraces a rapid , yet luminous , sketch of the progress from Birth to Maturity ; a description of Maturity and its duration , in which his fundamental proposition is again expressed : — "I do not hesitate to assert that the duration of tho period of maturity i « greatly within our control ; and that , although tho termination of the journey of human life in absolute and Certain , yet that not only the length of that , journey , but the manner ol" its division into various stages , and the decree of euso and pleasure with which we may travel , depend essentially on ourselves : "
and , finally , all tho Hi ' gns and sequences of Decline in Old Ago . It was tersely hjihI by tho JKrcnrh physician , that " Man commences in a gelatinous , and terminates in an osseous condition : " and Dr . Van . Oven HUIUH Up tllUfl : " The ^ r oat ; eharaeteriKtie of all the chun ^ es which gradually occur from early to extreme old a ^ e , is consolidation , a diminished plasticity and mobility of parts ineroiiMod ilrmnoiw of structure , and ( llinininhod bulk : interatitial fat iH tiion evwy ' Vfhwo absorbed ; tho inuuclow Woino fltriiuyy and . iibrouu , nnc ] ufc their tormina .
tions ligamentous ; cartilages become bony ; bones lose their internal cancell structure ; those of the cranium their diploe , and become merely solid mas ° whilst the bloodvessels are diminished or obliterated , and hence they beco ^ fragile . The coats of the arteries become harder , and Jose their tonicity ; xnT of the smaller trunks are obliterated , whilst , however , the veins have becom ^ larger and more dilateable than they were in early life ; perspiration is nearly at an end , for the skin has become harsh and dry , wrinkled , and discoloured ; ' and even , as in the vegetable world , plants as they grow older become'more * and ' mor woody , and the sap traverses only the larger vessels , so too in the old man , the circulation is carried on only by the larger trunks , and hence the whole body be
comes thinner , firmer , more harsh , more dry , and loses strength and mobility , and the power of repairing injured , or regenerating lost parts . The muscular system has become so weak as to be almost useless . The once powerful man , now unable to stand erect , stoops ; tho shoulders are raised , and the head falls forward . In walking the spine is much curved ; the aid of a strong stick or an able arm ia required to'keep the body in equilibrium ; the step is tottering and uncertainthe spine is curved even when sitting , and the head hangs forward ; the hands are unable to grasp any object firmly , they tremble in a palsied manner if the attempt be made , and the command over the movements of particular fingers is very uncertain . "
The second part , devoted to Longevity and its causes , is the most interesting and valuable . Hufeland refers to the fact of so great an age as 150 or 160 years having been attained , and sees no reason w hy the limit should not be extended to 200 years . But we do not comprehend his reason for stopping there . Why not say 300 or 400 ? Why not , as some have done , believe in the possibility of escaping Death altogether ? As soon as you quit fact and biological laws , there is no reason for assigning a limit . Dr . Van Oven is not so clear on . this point as may be wished . He says : — " The tables appended will show above 7000 instances of persona who lived to ages between 1 . 00 and 185 years ; and the more that these and other similar collections of examples are examined into , the more will it be found difficult to say to what extent human life may endure . It is unquestionably true that many of these instances can only be regarded as exceptions to the general law of
mortality , yet they distinctly show that life may extend to a very much longer period than is generally the case ; and that if 70 years be at present the usual term of life , and 80 be regarded as an instance of very old age , yet there is good reason to believe that if the attention of mankind were directed to the subject , the duration of human existence miglit be greatly prolonged ; and I do not think it too much to assert that well made and healthy individuals , the offspring of healthy parents , who have attained maturity in a state of health , and live in such a manner as to avoid disease , ought to regard a high degree of longevity as the ordinary rule of mortality , not as a favourable exception to it . "
The only way in which we can accept such a statement is in assuming that , having gradually improved the whole stock of human beings , by breeding only from the healthiest and most long lived , and by entirelv changing all the deleterious conditions of climate and civilization , we shall naturally raise the standard of vitality . In this form the proposition is acceptable ; but to bring it into this form , what a thorough disregard of actual conditions ! In enumerating the causes of longevity , Dr . Van . Oven bids ua remark , that : —
" Class of life seems as little to be the cause of advanced age . Most of tho instances of very long life arc to be found amongst the labourer , the pauper , and itinerant beggar ; yet tho lists contain the names of many noble lords and ladies , and of all conditions between the two . Much stress has been laid upon a country life and tho free country air ; but I think more than is just . It is true that most of tho instances of great longevity arc derived from the country , yet many persons attain a very advanced age in towns . Wo should regard the habits and occupations of tho individuals more than their place of residence ; and it is manifest that , generally speaking , they will be simple and more healthful in the country than in cities . Tho tables contain very many instances of longevity among paupers dying in poor-houses in London .
" Rejecting then climate , social position , and place of residence , wo must seek for the causes of longevity in what concerns the individual , in his orig inal st nwnna , in the healthfulness of the parents from whom ho sprung , in his habits , avocations , and mode of life ; in his immunity from the attacks of diseases , in cq » wi > livnty of temper , and freedom from great and frequent excitement . " He is thus landed on tho real cause of Longevity — hereditary organization : — " Unless the physical development of the infant be good , it would bo absurd to anticipate a vigorous manhood , or a healthful old age . In thia respect , unquestionably , 'the child is father to the man ; ' but there are many gradations I •* ' -- « »•¦•¦»* . * id AUUIl ^ JL \ j \ t tUH . j liJilll - JLSUU Ulll > t VJ ••* v / --.-.-- ^ , ( , _
from n perfect physical development to that Ktato of imperfection which won < render the attainment of an advanced age impossible . . Referring ngai" < nU tables , it will bo seen that a tendency to longevity , or , I ought rather to snV » a capability of attaining old age , in clearly hereditary . Thus , it in rc ] *_ . ° Thomas Field , a labourer of Bexford , Herts , who died aged 102 , that hw !««* was aged 10 < li years , his brother was 05 , his uncle 03 , and that scarcely any «» > family died under i ) 0 . P . Marion , a Dutch fisherman , died at tho ago of W >>> " father lived to 107 , and hiH grandfather to 116 . The celebrated Thomas A » lived to 152 years ; his son to 113 ; his grandson to 109 ; and his great pram to 124 . Two other grandsons , by hi * daughters , lived 127 years each ; "f" . ^ tables will show many other instances , proving that longevity if ) hi tfoino u »>»
hereditary . ... jH " If the importance ) of breeding animals from a healthy stock bo K ' " 111 ^ , ^ ,, ^ surprising to observe how diiily in tho world nil regard to this first ^"" j . if ) to for insuring health , happiness , and longevity is neglected . How dreadful » ^ observe that ; in the selection of wives and husbands this , which should l >« «• ' Jj ' ^ j ,. is but too often the last consideration ; that wealth , station , beauty , a ^ "" jlcfc j , er ments , are each in turn Hought for and appreciated , without ; inqwn » K t ^ ^ the seeds of gout , consumption , madness , &c ., bo iilno n pnrt <>** *' *' ° ,, s 0 tbut Ijrido , or of tho possessions of the bridegroom . Surely ono would Bll PJ j | OIlour . whilst tlioro i » ho much and ho laudable an anxioty to transmit to oIIhi >»»}> , j , ublo titloa mid dfofcluotioiiH , and ncoumulutud possession !) , it would i > e »» a 0 L ^ dd . nonfc ( loeirp to ojkIovv ' them with buoU » i > l » ynic « l and montal devdopmonfi m
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930 THE LEADER . [ Saturday , l
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 24, 1853, page 930, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2005/page/18/
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