“An interesting opinion with reference to the relation between longevity and the date of cessation was expressed by Robert Cowie at the Paris Medical Congress in 1867. According to Cowie, there is a direct and constant relation between longevity and protracted menstruation. A woman who menstruates up to an advance period of life has more chances of attaining extreme old age than one whose menstrual function has ceased earlier. Cowie derives this opinion from the observations of numerous cases of longevity and coincident protracted menstruation which occurred in the Shetland Islands.”