Produced by Turgut Dincer, Charlie Howard, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) Transcriber’s Note: Italics are indicated by _underscores_; superscripts are indicated by ^carets. Other Notes are at the end of this eBook. SOME MEDICAL ASPECTS OF OLD AGE MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA · MADRAS MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO DALLAS · SAN FRANCISCO THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO SOME MEDICAL ASPECTS OF OLD AGE BEING THE LINACRE LECTURE, 1922, ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE BY SIR HUMPHRY ROLLESTON, K.C.B. M.D., D.C.L., LL.D. PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF LONDON EMERITUS PHYSICIAN, ST. GEORGE’S HOSPITAL SOMETIME FELLOW OF ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON 1922 COPYRIGHT PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN. PREFACE The material in this small volume was collected in connexion with the Linacre Lecture at St. John’s College, Cambridge, and has been somewhat expanded since its delivery on 6th May 1922. The introduction is chiefly of local interest in connexion with the history of the Linacre Lecture. Without attempting a complete account of old age and its diseases I have passed in review some ancient and modern medical aspects of this subject, but, except for incidental references, medical treatment has not been considered. For ready help, especially as regards the illustrations, my cordial thanks are due to C. J. S. Thompson, Esq., M.B.E., of the Wellcome Historical Museum, and for the index I am much indebted to H. M. Barlow, Esq., Assistant Librarian of the Royal College of Physicians of London. H. R. CONTENTS PAGE I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. DURATION OF LIFE 9 III. ONSET OF OLD AGE 26 IV. FACTORS INFLUENCING LONGEVITY 32 V. CAUSES OF SENESCENCE, WITH A NOTE ON SENESCENCE AND CARCINOMA 62 VI. NORMAL STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN OLD AGE 90 VII. THE PHYSIOLOGY OF OLD AGE 115 VIII. THE DESCRIPTION OF OLD AGE IN THE TWELFTH CHAPTER OF ECCLESIASTES 129 IX. DISTINCTION BETWEEN HEALTHY AND MORBID OLD AGE 135 X. DISEASES IN AND OF OLD AGE 139 INDEX 157 ILLUSTRATIONS