Abstract
THE object of this paper2 is twofold, namely:— (1) To ascertain whether duration of life is inherited, and (2) To exhibit natural selection at work in man. According to both Wallace and Weismann the duration of life in any organism is determined by natural selection. An organism lives so long as it is advantageous, not to itself, but to its species that it should live. But it would be impossible for natural selection to determine the fit duration of life, as it would be impossible for it to fix any other character, unless that character were inherited. Accordingly a preliminary inquiry as to whether duration of life is inherited or not seems needful before we consider further the plausibility of Wallace and Weismann's hypothesis. The present paper shows that directly and collaterally duration of life is certainly inherited in the male line. We believe this to be the first quantitative measure of the inheritance of life's duration. Further data for the inheritance of this character in the female line, and for the study of the inheritance of “brachybioty”or shortlivedness as distinguished from longevity are now being collected. We point out in the paper and endeavour to illustrate by examples the importance of such quantitative measure of the inheritance of life's duration for actuarial practice.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Inheritance of Longevity in Man. Nature 60, 356–357 (1899). https://doi.org/10.1038/060356a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/060356a0