Spain may well boast the oldest man in the world. In the old city of Bogota, resides a man who, according to his own account, is one hundred and eighty years old. His neighbors assert, on what they believe the best of authority, that he is even older. The oldest inhabitants, some of whom are about ninety, declare that he was a very old man when they were children. His signature has been discovered on a subscription paper drawn up in 1712 for the erection of a new convent. A very aged Spanish physician vouches for the age of this wonderful man, whom he found one day engaged in his favorite occupation of gardening. His skin had become of the consistency and toughness of parchment, and his hair was white as snow, and thick and bushy as a turban. He freely discusses the subject of his great age, and attributes it to very careful and correct habits. He eats but once a day, and then takes half an hour for it, asserting that a man ought to eat enough in that time to last him twenty-four hours. He fasts on the first and fifteenth of each month, devoting these days to drinking water very freely. He chooses the most nourishing food, and always eats it cold. It is well known that the Spaniards can boast of large numbers of unusual longevity, which they attribute to a large consumption of onions, of which they claim to raise the finest in the world.
Activity is liable to commit some injuries, but indolence is sure to do no good.
