Page:Christian Greece and Living Greek.djvu/296

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274 CHRISTIAN GREECE AND LIVING GREEK. Greece, and found that there were years in which not a single case was recorded in which alcohol- ism figured as a causal factor. From official statistics we learn the following most interesting facts: Among 5,000 deaths at all ages, there is i occurring at the age of 100 years or more. One in 3,020 inhabitants attains 85 to 90 years (in France i in 4,354) ; i in 5,918, 90 to 95 years (in France i in 20,000, in Saxony I in 11,000); I in 11,988, 95 to 100 years (in France i in 83,145); i in 16,678, 100 or more years (in France i in 352,947). No country in all Europe is less afflicted with syphilis than Greece. The reasons for this re- markable fact are the following : 1. The majority of the population — namely, 55.27 per cent. — are peasants. 2. Houses of prostitution, except in some but by no means in all cities, do not exist. This is the more honorable to the Greeks of to-day when one recalls the ancient cult of Aphrodite Pandemos. Even Athens was without a brothel until the French introduced their morals, or lack of morals, during the blockade of the Piraeus at the time of the Crimean war (1854-57). 3. The restricted communication between many districts with large cities or foreign lands.