s. This venerable gallery of Nestors will include those of all
periods and nations, but as the modern references are more available
greater attention will be given to them.

Turning first to the history of the earlier nations, we deduce from
Jewish history that Abraham lived to one hundred and seventy-five;
Isaac, likewise a tranquil, peaceful man, to one hundred and eighty;
Jacob, who was crafty and cunning, to one hundred and forty-seven;
Ishmael, a warrior, to one hundred and thirty-seven; and Joseph, to one
hundred and ten. Moses, a man of extraordinary vigor, which, however,
he exposed to great cares and fatigues, attained the advanced age of
one hundred and twenty; and the warlike and ever-active Joshua lived to
one hundred and ten. Lejoucourt gives the following striking parallels:
John Glower lived to one hundred and seventy-two, and Abraham to one
hundred and seventy-five; Susan, the wife of Gower, lived to one
hundred and sixty-four, and Sarah, the wife of Abraham, to one hundred
and twenty-seven. The eldest son of the Gower couple was one hundred
and fifteen when last seen, and Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah,
lived to one hundred and eighty.

However replete with fables may be the history of the Kings of Egypt,
none attained a remarkable age, and the record of the common people is
incomplete or unavailable.

If we judge from the accounts of Lucian we must form a high idea of the
great age of the Seres, or ancient Chinese. Lucian ascribes this
longevity to their habit of drinking excessive quantities of water.

Among the Greeks we find several instances of great age in men of
prominence. Hippocrates divided life into seven periods, living himself
beyond the century mark. Aristotle made three divisions,--the growing
period, the stationary period, and the period of decline. Solon made
ten divisions of life, and Varro made five. Ovid ingeniously compares
life to the four seasons. Epimenides of Crete is said to have lived
one hundred and fifty-seven years, the last fifty-seven of which he
slept in a cavern at night. Gorgias, a teacher, lived to one hundred
and eight; Democritus, a naturalist, attained one hundred and nine;
Zeno, the founder of the Stoics, lived to one hundred; and Diogenes,
the frugal and slovenly, reached ninety years. Despite his life of
exposure, Hippocrates lived to one hundred and nine; and Galen, the
prince of physicians after him, who was naturally of a feeble
constitution, lived