PHASES IN THE LIFE OF THE INDIVIDUAL 723 



appears to be about thirty-four months. 1 The white mouse is stated 

 to have a normal life .of two years, and this whether it has bred or 

 not, but females are slightly shorter lived than males. 2 



For man the traditional duration of life is seventy, but, as every 

 one knows, this age is very often much exceeded. Women on the 

 average live to be somewhat older than men. 



Many instances are on record of extraordinary longevity, but 

 perhaps the most trustworthy is the famous case of Thomas Parr, 

 described by Harvey in the Philosophical Transactions of the Eoyal 



FIG. 189. Lonk sheep, aged eighteen years, with her last lamb. This sheep, 

 which belonged to Mr. William Peel of Knowlemere Manor, Clitheroe, 

 lived to be twenty-one years. It had thirty-five lambs, nine of which 

 were triplets. 3 



Society. 4 His death is said to have been due to the change in his 

 mode of life, resulting from his migration from Shropshire to London, 

 " where he fed high and drunk plentifully of the best wines." " He 

 died after he had outlived nine princes, in the tenth year of 'the tenth 

 of them, at the age of one hundred and fifty-two years and nine 

 months." 5 



1 Donaldson, loc. cit. 



2 Kirkham, loc. cit. 



3 I am indebted to my friend Mr. W. Ralph Peel, of Trinity College, 

 Cambridge, for this photograph (taken by his sister, Miss Peel), and for the 

 information which accompanied it. 



4 Harvey, "Anatomical Account of Thomas Parr," Phil. Trans., vol. iii., 

 1700. A portrait of Parr painted by van Dyck may be seen in the Royal 

 Gallery at Dresden. 



5 For much further information about old age, longevity, etc., in man, see 

 Luciani, Human Physiology, vol. v., English Edition, London, 1921. See also Pearl, 

 " On the Mean Age at Death of Centenarians," Proc. Nat. Acad. ScL, vol. v., 1919. 



