Longevity 179 



divisions occur so that the number involved in 

 the animal's heritage will last for a longer time. 



We have seen before, when considering the 

 mental aptitudes of men, that the distribu- 

 tion of energy as it exists in parents at the 

 time of reproduction controls, in a measure, 

 the distribution of energy in the offspring. 

 Thus, the man whose dominant mental char- 

 acteristic is ambition is the son of a man in 

 the ambitious stage of life, the natural artist 

 is the son of a man in the artistic stage of life, 

 the practical man is the son of a father in the 

 practical stage of life, and the philosopher 

 comes from a father in the philosophic stage. 



If the distribution of mental energy in the 

 parent controls the distribution of mental 

 energy in the offspring, then the distribution 

 of cell energy in the parent should similarly 

 control the distribution of cell energy in the 

 offspring. Construed, this means that if 

 reproduction occurs when cell division is 

 rapid in the parent, then rapid cell division 

 will be dominant in the offspring; while if 

 reproduction occurs after the rate of cell 



