lence of health." He was warned several times against
overwork, lack of sleep, and abuse of his digestion. But he merely
smiled and claimed that such warnings were for others, not for him. He
met an untimely end, due as his physicians believed and as he himself
acknowledged, when too late, to his abuse of the great powers with which
Nature had endowed him and to the neglect of personal hygiene.

[Sidenote: Possible Health Attainment]

Conversely, an observance of the laws of hygiene affords wonderful
results in producing vitality and endurance. Insurance companies are
discovering that even weak and sick people, will, if they take good care
of themselves, outlive those with robust constitutions who abuse them.

To those unfamiliar with the subject in its larger aspects, the
possibilities seem almost beyond belief. As an example of the wonderful
gains which can be secured by obeying the laws of hygiene may be cited
the case of a young man who a few years ago was scarcely able to drag
himself into the sun in Colorado, where he was endeavoring to rid
himself of tuberculosis. He not only succeeded, but subsequently, by
dint of following substantially all of the rules of hygiene here laid
down, became an athlete and capable of running twenty-five miles for
sheer love of sport and apparently without the overstrain experienced by
"Marathon" runners. Kant and Humboldt are cases typical in different
fields of achievement of many of the world's most vital men who have
actually made over their constitutions from weakness to strength.
Cornaro says that it was the neglect of hygienic laws which made him all
but a dead man at thirty-seven, and that the thoroughgoing reform of his
habits which he then effected made him a centenarian. His rules, drawn
up four hundred years ago and described in his interesting work "The
Temperate Life," are, so far as they are explained, almost identical
with those given in this book. It is difficult to assign a limit to the
good which can be accomplished by practising these rules and so
minimizing the poisons which usually narrow and shorten our lives.

[Sidenote: Immortal Animal Cells]

So far as science can reveal, there seems to be no principle limiting
life. There are many good and bad reasons why men die, but no underlying
necessary reason why they must die. The brilliant Carrel has kept tissue
cells of animals alive outside of the body for the past three years.
These cells are multiplying and