C. G. Stockton, M.D.,[156] suggests family records and pride to avoid mixing good stock with that which decays early. He recognizes the great contributions of the dentist and oculist, deplores the neglect of old age, and insists that the aged do respond to treatment very readily. He also deplores the attitude of many physicians who discourage resolute methods of curing defects and warding off evils because the patient is old. He stresses the value of emunctory procedures both within and without. * * * * * Dr. W. G. Thompson[157] deplores the fact that physicians have given so little attention to old age and that the medical literature upon the subject is so meager. The very old have survived all corroborative evidence as to their age, their failing memories confuse tradition and fact, and they come very often to take pride in their age and so add to it. The author’s study is based on the census statistics of 1910, which record, from 90–94 years, 6,175 deaths; from 95–99, 1,427; 100 years and over, 372. The respiratory diseases as a group took first rank as the cause of death; organic heart disease, apoplexy, and Bright’s disease occurring in frequency in the order mentioned. Among diseases of the digestive system enteritis outranked all others. As age advances and its activities and diversions become less and less, locomotion is reduced, along with acuteness of sight and hearing, and the pleasures of the table remain the only gratification of a monotonous existence. Very many accustom themselves to the habitual use of laxatives to counteract the effects of overeating, and often we have obstructions, especially of the rectum or colon, that may become fatal. This, however, is more often seen in those who eat too little and become perhaps atrophic and marasmic. These people become careless of matters of the toilet and obstructions often cause death. Apoplexy is relatively rare among centenarians and carcinoma also declines as a cause of death after the ninetieth year. Indeed, the disease that does not develop until after the ninetieth year can scarcely be due to hereditary factors and the infrequency of cancer in the later stages of life emphasizes the constitutional resistance to extraneous influences that the majority of centenarians possess in a high degree. Acute and very quick or fatal pneumonia is not infrequent.