LAW OF PHYSIOLOGIC AGING AS DERIVED FROM LONG RANGE DATA ON REFRACTION OF THE HUMAN EYE

FORMER RESULTS AND PROBLEMS  In former papers by one of us (F. B.)¹ and by his collaborators Stainhaus² and Heidemann,³ it has been shown that a statistical correlation exists between the development of presbyopia, i. e., loss of the power of accommodation due to aging, on the one hand, and the span of life, on the other. Statistically speaking this means that persons with early progressing presbyopia die early and that persons with late progressing presbyopia die late. Furthermore, by securing death records in a considerable number of cases (about 1,000) it was clearly demonstrated in the work of Steinhaus² that the correlation just mentioned is due primarily to the large subgroup of cases in which "apoplexia" or "heart stroke" (chiefly occlusion of the coronary arteries) was registered as the cause of death.These former observations are demonstrated in tables 1 and 2.The life expectancy