Since Dr. Vischer has been for more than twenty years director of the Municipal Home for the Aged in Basle, Switzerland, he can speak with real authority on the subject of old age. In this book he covers a great deal of ground.
Part I is devoted to a consideration of senescence as a bodily and mental process. Part II deals with the duration of life, under the headings "The Chronological and Physiological Stages of Life"; "The Centenarians"; "Old Age and Longevity in the Animal World"; "Prolongation of Life and Rejuvenation," and "Maladies of Old Age, and the Care of the Aged."
In Part Ill—"Society and the Individual; Their Attitude Toward Old Age"—Dr. Vischer discusses old age in other civilizations; the relation between the older and younger generations; the achievements of old age, and, finally, the personal attitude toward old age. This section, particularly the final chapter, is the best