THE INHERITANCE OF DURATION 185 



might indeed be possible that among cohorts with a low mortality during 

 the first two years of life there will be an increase of death rate in the 

 following three years of life. 



Altogether, we may regard the weight of present evi- 

 dence as altogether preponderant in favor of the view 

 that the death rate of the earliest period of life is selec- 

 tive — eliminating the weak and leaving the strong. From 

 our present point of view it adds another broad class of 

 evidential material to the proof of the proposition that 

 inheritance is one of the strongest elements, if not indeed 

 the dominating factor, in determining the duration of 

 life of human beings. 



