Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Human Development, Time, Health, Natural Law, Domestic Economy

People mentioned:

Thomas Parr

    Noting the 'great deal' of recent discussion about man's longevity, the writer offers himself as somebody who should be used for testing the claims, and describes his constitution, diet, and lifestyle, stressing that he subsists 'by the exercise of my intellectual faculties in a way calculated to please others rather than myself', and believes from 'statistics' that 'matrimony would prolong my existence'. Suggests that with a 'public subscription' he could gain 'an income sufficient for the purposes of physiological science and my own' and see whether longevity can be secured by 'living [...] in strict obedience to the natural laws of health'.