Photograph by International Film Service A NEW JERSEY COUPLE AND THEIR SEVENTEEN STALWART CHILDREN While one can never tell how long he is going to live "until he is dead," Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Casale, of Newark, are probably destined to survive to a ripe old age. An examination by Dr. Alexander Graham Bell of the genealogy of the Hyde Family reveals the fact that the parents who lived the longest had the most children, on the average. There are nine daughters and eight sons in this household. Mr. and Mrs. Casale are shown standing in the back row. Next row, left to right, are: Rose, Elizabeth, Jennie, Margaret, Helen, and Michael. In the front row, left to right: Frank, Joseph, William, John, Evelyn, Charles, Josephine with Ryta (the baby), Dominick, Eugene, and Catherine. WHO SHALL INHERIT LONG LIFE? On the Existence of a Natural Process at Work Among Human Beings Tending to Improve the Vigor and Vitality of Succeeding Generations BY DR. ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL AUTHOR, IN THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE, OF "PRIZES FOR THE INVENTOR," "DISCOVERY AND M OST people die before reaching middle life, and comparatively few live to be old. This has always been so from the very earliest times; and, in spite of modern sanitation and the advance of medical science, remains true today. Only a small proportion of each generation survives. the traditional Biblical age of threescore years and ten. Under these circumstances is it not remarkable that so many people should have parents who lived to be old? Seventy is by no means an unusual age for a parent. Examine the history of the people you know and you will find that very few of them had parents who died before seventy, while a considerable proportion had parents who lived to be eighty or even much older. An examination of several hundred cases, noted in the Genealogy of the Hyde family1, shows that 18.7 per cent of these persons lived to be seventy or older; but 81.7 per cent had fathers or mothers who lived beyond seventy. About 13 per cent lived to seventy-five; but 65 per cent, or nearly two-thirds of the whole, had fathers or mothers who lived beyond seventy-five. The contrast is still more marked when we consider persons who lived to extreme old age. Only 8.7 per cent lived to be eighty or older; and yet 48.1 per cent, nearly one-half of the whole, had fathers. or mothers who lived to be eighty or older. These are the results of an investigation of 1,594 cases in which the ages at death of the persons and of their fathers and mothers were all known.2 Such results seem to point to the general conclusion that a very large proportion of each generation has sprung from a very small proportion of the preceding generation, namely, from the people who lived to be old. Another inference is that the long-lived people left more descendants behind them in proportion to their numbers than the others, and therefore, on the average, had larger families. Of course, many widowers may have married again when they were well advanced in years and have had families by each marriage, but this explanation does not apply to women. MOTHERS' AGES AN INDEX TO THE SIZE OF THEIR FAMILIES We cannot, for example, suppose that mothers who died at fifty would have had more children had they lived to be sixty or eighty or a hundred; and yet investigation shows that the mothers who lived to extreme old age actually had, on the average, larger families than those who died earlier in life. From the Hyde statistics we find that mothers who died before forty had, on the average, only 3.4 children apiece; and this is intelligible because many of the mothers passed away long before the conclusion of the reproductive period, and 2 See "The Duration of Life and Conditions Associated with Longevity, A Study of the Hyde Genealogy," by Alexander Graham Bell; published by the Genealogical Record Office, 1601 35th Street, Washington, D. C. $1.00. Photograph by Gilbert Grosvenor NINE SONS HAVE BEEN CONTRIBUTED TO THE WORLD'S POPULATION BY MR. AND MRS. MORRISON, OF ST. ANN'S, CAPE BRETON, NOVA SCOTIA "The persons whose parents both died before sixty lived, on the average, 32.8 years (the Hyde Genealogy). Those whose parents both lived beyond eighty averaged 52.7 years; and where the parents died at the intermediate age periods the duration of life was intermediate." It is the pride of Horseheads, N. Y., that Mr. and Mrs. Oliver D. Eisenhart have fourteen children ranging from cne to twenty-four years of age. Thirteen are shown in the picture. which was taken before the eldest son went to France, more than two years ago, as a member of the American Ambulance Corps. Photograph by Corey, supplied by Louise Lacey, Secretary of the Genealogical Record Office ELISHA CLARK PECKHAM, AGED 92, MIDDLETOWN, R. I., WITH MRS. PECKHAM AND THEIR ELEVEN CHILDREN. ONE CHILD DIED AT THE AGE OF TEN YEARS The children of long-lived parents are, on the average, stronger, more vigorous, and longerlived than the children of others, and there are more of them per family. THE CENTENARIAN CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, WHOSE MOTTO IS, "LIVE A HUNDRED YEARS AND GROW OLD GRACEFULLY" Left to right, standing: Dr. J. M. Morrison, Vice-President, 97; Rev. H. Judd, 91; Rev. N. A. Millerd, 90; A. A. Annas, 96; Dr. H. L. Canfield, 90; C. R. Post, 92; J. H. F. Jarchow, 92; Senator C. C. Cole, 94. Left to right, sitting: Dr. A. M. Sherman, 92; Dr. J. M. Peebles, 96; S. Selleck, 94; Dr. E. C. Prugh, 95: Mrs. M. K. Bartlett, 92; Mrs. J. F. Howard, 92; Mrs. M. Offenbach, 90; Mrs. Stevens, 94; Rev. S. H. Taft, President, 92. Mrs. Taft in rear. Photograph by L. H. Bellin HE HAS SEEN MORE THAN A CENTURY OF WORLD CHANGES John O'Reilly, born in Ireland, was 101 years of age when this photograph was taken. His father died at 45, but his mother lived to be 90. He was the youngest of eight children. His wife lived to be 84. The fact that more than a hundred years had passed over him had not prevented Mr. O'Reilly from planting his truck garden each spring or caused him to retire from the management of his grocery business. Photograph supplied by Louise Lacey, Secretary of the Genealogical Record Office MRS. LOUISA K. THIERS ON HER 104TH BIRTHDAY The few who live to extreme old age are people who have proved |