[50] "There is no rule more essential to those who are advanced in Life, than never to give way to a remission of Exercise. By degrees the demand for exercise may shrink, in extreme old age, to little more than a bare quit-rent; but that quit-rent must be paid, since life is held by the tenure. "Whoever examines the accounts handed down to us of the Longest Livers, will generally find, that to the very last they used some exercise, as walking a certain distance every day, &c. This is mentioned as something surprising in them, considering their great age; whereas the truth is, that their living to such an age, without some such exercise, would have been the wonder. Exercise keeps off obstructions, which are the principal sources of diseases, and ultimately of death. Motion then is the tenure of life; and old people who humour or indulge an inclination to sloth and inactivity, (which is too apt to grow upon them on the least encouragement), act as unwisely as the poor traveller, who, bewildered in trackless snow, and surprised by a chilling frost, instead of resisting the temptation to sleep, suffers it to steal upon him, though he knows, that, by its fatal blandishments, he can never expect to wake again, but must inevitably perish."--_Institutes of Health_, p. 24. [51] "The most ignorant person knows, that proper care of the skin is indispensably necessary for the well-being of horses, &c. "The Groom often denies himself rest, that he may dress and curry his horses sufficiently; it is, therefore, wonderful, that the enlightened people of these days should neglect the care of their own skin so much, that I think I may, without exaggeration, assert, that _among the greater part of men,--the Pores of the Skin are half closed and unfit for use_."--From p. 235 of HUFFELAND'S _Art of Prolonging Life_,--which persons of all ages may peruse with much advantage. [52] A _thick Crust_ is not always the consequence of the Wine having been very long time in the Bottle--but is rather a sign that it was too little time in the Cask, or has been kept in a very cold cellar. [53] "Had the man that first filled the _Heidelburgh Tun_, been placed as sentinel to see that no other Wine was put into it, I believe that he would have found it much better at 25 or 30 years old, than at 100 or 150, had he lived so long--retained his senses, and been permitted now and then to taste it--a privilege with which the natives are seldom indulged. "To give a great price for Wine, and keep it till it begins to perish, is a great pity." I cannot believe that very aged Wine, when bordering on Acid, is wholesome, though some Wine-drinkers seem to prefer it in that state. "Respecting _Port Wine_, there is a great fuss made by some about its _age_, and the _crust_ on the bottle; as if the age and crust on the bottle constituted the quality of the Wine." "Such _crusty_ gentlemen shall not select Wine for me."--YOUNG'S _Epicure_, 8vo. 1815, p. 23, 28, &c.