[22] See the history of a case of Spectacles, &c. in page 61 of Dr. Kitchiner’s Practical Observations on Telescopes, Opera Glasses, &c.—Third Edition.
[23] “In proportion as the powers of the Stomach are weak, so ought we to diminish the quantity of our food, and take care that it be as nutritive, and as easy of digestion as possible.”—Abernethy’s Surgical Observations, p. 67.
[24] “Nothing is a greater Enemy to feeble life, than laying aside old habits—or leaving a climate, or place, to which one has been long accustomed: the irritation occasioned by such changes is highly prejudicial.
“Even pernicious habits, insalubrious air, &c. must be abandoned with great caution—or we shall thereby hasten the end of our Patient.”—Struve’s Asthenology, p. 398.
[25] “Those who have lived longest, have been persons without either Avarice or Ambition, enjoying that tranquillity of Soul, which is the source of the happiness and health of our early days—and strangers to those torments of mind which usually accompany more advanced years, and by which the Body is wasted and consumed.”—Code of Health, vol. i. p. 60-63, &c.
“In the return made by Dr. Robertson, (and published by Sir John Sinclair, in the 164th page of the second volume of the Appendix to his Code of Health,) from Greenwich Hospital, of 2410 In-Pensioners, ninety-six—i. e. about one-twenty-fifth are beyond eighty—thirteen beyond ninety—and one beyond one hundred. They almost all used Tobacco—and most of them acknowledged the habit of Drinking freely. Some of them had no teeth for twenty years—and fourteen only had good ones—one who was one hundred and thirteen years old, had lost all his Teeth upwards of thirty years.
“The organ of Vision was impaired in about one-half—that of Hearing in only one-fifth: this may be accounted for—the Eye is a more delicate organ than the Ear—and the least deterioration of its action is more immediately observed.—Of the ninety-six they almost all had been married, and four of them after eighty years of age—only nine were Batchelors—this is a strong argument in favour of Matrimony.
“The Best Ages for Marriage, all other circumstances being favourable, are between the eighteenth and twenty-fifth year for Females, and between the twenty-fifth and thirty-sixth for Males. The body is then in the most complete state to propagate a healthy Offspring—the Ages when the prolific powers begin to cease in both sexes will nearly correspond—and the probable expectation of Life will be sufficiently long, for parents to provide for their children.”—Jameson on the Human Body, p. 336.
[26] “Regular and sufficient Sleep, serves on the one hand, for repairing the lost powers, and on the other, for lessening consumption, by lessening vital activity. Hence the lives of people who are exposed to the most debilitating fatigue, are prolonged to a considerable age, when they enjoy Sleep in its fullest extent.”—Struve’s Asthenology, 8vo. 1801, p. 199.
[27] “It is a perfect barbarism to awake any one, when Sleep, that “balm of hurt minds,” is exerting its benign influence, and the worn body is receiving its most cheering restorative.”—Hints for the Preservation of Health, 12mo.