It appears, then, that human beings may reach the age of 150, but such cases are certainly extremely rare, and are not known from the records of the last two centuries. I cannot accept without a good deal of reserve the statements as to two persons who died in the beginning of the 19th century at the ages of 142 and 145. On the other hand, cases of duration of life from 100 to 120 years are not very rare.
Extreme longevity is not limited to the white races. According to Prichard,[68] negroes have lived respectively to 115, 160, and 180 years. In the course of the 19th century there have been observed, in Senegal, eight negroes ranging from 100 to 121 years old. M. Chemin[69] saw himself in 1898 at Foundiougne an old man, whom the natives stated to be 108 years of age; although he was in good health, he had been blind for several years. The same author, on the authority of the New York Herald of June 13th, 1895, mentions the case of a coloured woman in North Carolina, who was more than 140 years old, and of a man 125 years old.
Women more frequently become centenarians than men, although the difference is not very great. For instance, in Greece, in 1885, in a population of nearly two millions (1,947,760), there were 278 persons aged from 95 to 110 years, of whom 133 were male and 145 female.
In the seven years, from 1833 to 1839 inclusive, according to Chemin, there were in Paris twenty-six men over the age of 95, and forty-five women. Such facts, and many others, support the general proposition that male mortality is always greater than that of the other sex.
In most cases centenarians are notably healthy and of strong constitution. There are instances, however, of abnormal people having reached a great age. A woman, called Nicoline Marc, died in 1760, at the age of 110. Since she was two years old, her left arm was crippled. Her hand was bent under the arm like a hook. She was a hunch-back, and so bent that she appeared to be no more than four feet high. A Scotch woman, Elspeth Wilson, died at the age of 115 years. She was quite a dwarf, being only a little over two feet high. On the other hand, although they usually have a very short life, giants have been known to reach the age of 100.
Haller, in the eighteenth century, remarked that centenarians often occurred in the same family, as if longevity were a hereditary quality. It is certainly the case that the descendants of centenarians frequently reach extreme age. Thomas Parr, for instance, left a son who died in 1761, at the age of 127 years, having retained his mental faculties until death. In M. Chemin’s list of centenarians, there are eighteen cases of extreme old age having been reached by their relations. As all innate characters can be transmitted, the influence of heredity and longevity must be admitted. At the same time, it is necessary to remember the important influence of the similarity of conditions in the case of parents and children. Many cases of tuberculosis and leprosy, which used to be assigned to heredity, are now known to be due to infection in the same conditions of life, and some of the examples of the attaining of a great age by more than one member of a family may be explained by the influence of surrounding circumstances. Very frequently the husband and wife, although not related by blood, both attain extremely advanced age. I found 22 cases of this kind in M. Chemin’s list; I will give a few of them. A widow, Anne Barak, died at the age of 123, in Moravia; her husband died at the age of 118. In 1896, there was alive in Constantinople, M. Christaki, a retired army doctor of the age of 110; his wife was 95 years old. In 1886, M. et Mme. Gallot, aged respectively 105 years and 4 months, and 105 years and one month, died within two days of each other at Vaugirard, 54, Rue Cambronne. Lejoncourt mentions a South American of 143 years old, whose wife had lived to the age of 117.
It is worth enquiring if there be any relation between longevity and locality. There are some countries in which very many of the natives reach old age. It appears that Eastern Europe (Balkan States, and Russia), although its civilisation is not high, contains many more centenarians than Western Europe. I have already mentioned that Dr. Ornstein had shown the existence of many extremely old people in Greece. M. Chemin states that in Servia, Bulgaria and Roumania there were more than 5,000 centenarians (5,545) living in 1896. “Although these figures appear to be exaggerated,” wrote M. Chemin, “it is undoubtedly the case that the pure and keen air of the Balkans, and the pastoral or agricultural life of the natives, predisposes to old age.” The same author mentions several localities in France, notable for the numbers of very old people. In 1898 in the commune of Sournia (Pyrénées-Orientales) the total population was 600, amongst which there was one woman of 95 years, a man of 94, a woman of 89, two men of 85, two of 84, and two of 83, three women of 82, and two men of 80. At St. Blimont in the Department of the Somme, amongst the 400 inhabitants alive in 1897, there were six men between the ages of 85 and 93 years and one woman in her 101st year.
It cannot be accepted that it is the keen air which lengthens the life, because Switzerland, a mountainous country, is notable for the rarity of centenarians. It is more likely that some circumstance in the mode of living influences longevity.
It has been noticed that most centenarians have been people who were poor, or in humble circumstances, and whose life has been extremely simple. There are instances of rich centenarians, such as Sir Moses Montefiore who died at the age of 101, but such are extremely rare. It may well be said that great riches do not bring a very long life. Poverty generally brings with it sobriety, especially in old age, and it has been often said that most centenarians have lived an extremely sober life. They have not all followed the example of the celebrated Cornaro, who brought himself to subsist on a daily diet of no more than twelve ounces of solid food, and fourteen ounces of wine, and who, although his constitution was weak, lived for about a century. He has left extremely interesting Memoirs, and retained his intelligence until his death on the 26th April, 1566 (Lejoncourt, p. 146).