It is
to this tendency that we are indebted for the origin of many
romantic tales. Some have not hesitated to ascribe to our
forefather Adam the height of 900 yards and the age of almost a
thousand years; but according to Hufeland acute theologians have
shown that the chronology of the early ages was not the same as
that used in the present day. According to this same authority
Hensler has proved that the year at the time of Abraham consisted
of but three months, that it was afterward extended to eight, and
finally in the time of Joseph to twelve. Certain Eastern nations,
it is said, still reckon but three months to the year; this
substantiates the opinion of Hensler, and, as Hufeland says, it
would be inexplicable why the life of man should be shortened
nearly one-half immediately after the flood.
Accepting these conclusions as correct, the highest recorded age,
that of Methuselah, nine hundred years, will be reduced to about
two hundred, an age that can hardly be called impossible in the
face of such an abundance of reports, to which some men of
comparatively modern times have approached, and which such
substantial authorities as Buffon, Hufeland, and Flourens
believed possible.
Alchemy and the "Elixir of Life.
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