Gerontology: Charles Le Vieux

After Charles de Gaulle's out bursts in Canada last week, it was the diagnosis of one European diplomat that "you might as well speak to a wall. The man is getting old—he is nearly 77." And Montreal wags suggested that France's new rallying cry might be Liberté, Egalité, Sénilité.

Senility is a vague term that stands for all the physical and mental infirmities that accompany old age, but in popular usage it is applied to failing mental processes. Although gerontologists have remarkably little insight as to how and why aging occurs, the physical effects are clear—the bones grow brittle, muscles weaken, some tissues become infiltrated with fat, and blood vessels harden (arteriosclerosis).

None of this necessarily affects the mental processes until, sooner or later, the blood supply to the brain is impaired. Then old people often become dogmatic, illogical and subject to mental depressions, particularly when they fancy themselves rejected. The memory weakens. They become sloppy, inattentive to details they once cared about. They grow insensitive to the feelings of others and oversensitive to their own.

Earlier neuroses become more acute. It can also happen that previously belligerent, overly aggressive characters become pathetically sweet and placid. At times, the senile become completely cut off from reality.

From Memory. Yet aging follows a different time schedule for each in dividual, and an ancient body frequently supports a vigorous mind. Konrad Adenauer remained a power in Germany until his death at 91. Toscanini was conducting from memory when he retired at 87. Mr. Justice Holmes stayed sharp until he retired at 91. But some of Holmes's younger brethren did not do so well; lifetime tenure has often incrusted the work of the Supreme Court, even though full-pay retirement at 70 has been available to the Justices since 1869. In the 1920s, the failing Justice Joseph McKenna once wrote an opinion stating the exact opposite of what all nine Justices, himself included, had voted to say.

But Charles de Gaulle? The Elysee Palace is not exactly garrulous about De Gaulle's physical health. It is known that he had a prostate operation in 1964, and he has been treated for cataracts in both eyes, which are still extremely sensitive. There are unconfirmed reports that his prostate trouble flared up again a few weeks ago, and that he has circulatory trouble in one leg. Yet, considering that De Gaulle will be 77 on Nov. 22, he is in remarkably good physical shape.

As for mental soundness, many French physicians who have observed the general closely, though never as his doctor, remark on the absence of any signs that his mind is aging. There are no mental lapses. His memory for past and recent events remains as striking as ever. His meticulously prepared speeches are delivered from memory without notes. His grasp of detail remains cogent, his bearing impeccable. One of the general's own doctors recently remarked that De Gaulle had "passed his second menopause," and should last without difficulty until the end of his presidential term in 1972.