B. II.
Preserving HEALTH.
55
510Prevent the lingering fates. For know, whate'er
Beyond its natural fervor hurries on
The sanguine tide; whether the frequent bowl,
High-season'd fare, or exercise to toil
Protracted; spurs to its last stage tir'd life,
And sows the temples with untimely snow.
515When life is new, the ductile fibres feel
The heart's increasing force; and, day by day,
The growth advances; till the larger tubes,
Acquiring (from their [1]elemental veins,
Condens'd to solid chords) a firmer tone,
- ↑ In the human body, as well as in those of other animals, the larger blood-vessels are composed of smaller ones; which, by the violent motion and pressure of the fluids in the large vessels, lose their cavities by degrees, and degenerate into impervious chords or fibres. In proportion as these small vessels become solid, the larger must of course grow less extensile, more rigid, and make a stronger resistance to the action of the heart, and force of the blood. From this gradual condensation of the smaller vessels, and consequent rigidity of the larger ones, the progress of the human body from infancy to old age is accounted for.
Sustain,
