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to which men are more prone than women, and from
violent deaths, many persons die. Suicides are most
frequent at this age.
Between 65 and 75 years of age. Autumn
sheaves are gathered, the reaper using as his sickle
the diseases referred to in the previous paragraph. The
deaths from phthisis are fewer at this age. The mortality
among men is double that of the previous decenniad,
and is principally due to diseases of the heart, of the
brain, and of the lungs. "The year of age 72," Dr. Farr
remarks, "is that in which the greatest number of men
die; but it is not necessarily the limit of healthy
existence where the laws of life are observed."
Cancer, and diseases of the generative organs, carry off
many women.
Between 75 and 85 years of age The mortality
at this age is:—of men, 14.6 per cent,; and of women,
13.4. The same remarks apply to the causes of
death at this period, as have been already made
respecting the mortality of the first year of life. The
causes of half the deaths are undistinguished or
undistinguishable. The patient, from " second childishness
and mere oblivion," is frequently unable to aid
the physician in making his diagnosis. The zymoses
claim few lives, local diseases the majority. One or
other of the various organs of the body has given way,
and it is not always easy to determine its precise
condition;—whether the manifest impairment of
power is consequent upon debility, the excitability of
the organ to the proper performance of its functions
being exhausted, or to organic disease.
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