514 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



transmit to their offspring a tendency to 

 live long shows that the disease-resistant 

 quality is handed down to their descend- 

 ants. 



Of course, longevity itself is not a 

 thing that is capable of direct inheritance ; 

 but the fact that longevity seems to run 

 in families shows that a tendency to long 

 life can be inherited. It is not longevity 

 itself that is transmitted, but something 

 else that tends to produce long life. What 

 is really inherited is probably a tough, 

 wiry constitution, which enables the for- 

 tunate possessor to survive the multitu- 

 dinous ills that flesh is heir to and live 

 on to the extreme limit of human life. 

 From this point of view, the attainment 

 of old age is extremely significant. 



The people who live to be old represent 

 the disease-resistant strain of their gen- 

 eration ; and, on account of their superior 

 fecundity, this disease-resistant quality is 

 distributed very largely through the pop- 

 ulation. The weak and delicate do not, 



as a rule, live very long ; nor are they ca- 

 pable of bearing large families. It is the 

 strong and vigorous who live to extreme 

 old age and leave many descendants be- 

 hind them. 



The children of long-lived parents are. 

 on the average, stronger, more vigorous, 

 and longer-lived than the children of 

 others ; and there are more of them per 

 family. 



Here, then, we have evidence of the 

 existence of a natural process at work 

 among human beings tending to improve 

 the vigor and vitality of succeeding gen- 

 erations. 1 



1 The Genealogical Record Office, Alexander 

 Graham Be 1 !, Director, 1601 35th Street, Wash- 

 ington, D. C, will be glad to receive informa- 

 tion concerning all authentic cases of persons 

 now living who are more than go years of 

 age. The data should include the date of 

 birth of the individual, the age at which his 

 or her parents died, and the number of chil- 

 dren and ages of his or her children and 

 direct descendants. 



THE AZORES 



Picturesque and Historic Half-way House of American 



Transatlantic Aviators 



By Arminius T. Haeberle 



Formerly American Consul at St. Michaels 



THE picturesque Azorean archi- 

 pelago, situated between the 37th 

 and 40th degrees of latitude, lies 

 in the path of steamers plying between 

 New York and the Mediterranean, as 

 well as in the course of those sailing be- 

 tween Panama and the ports of northern 

 Europe. 



The central cluster of this group, 

 formed by the islands of Fayal, Pico, 

 Sao Jorge, Graciosa, and Terceira, lies 

 more than 840 miles directly west of Lis- 

 bon. About 150 miles northwest of this 

 centrally located group are Flores and 

 Corvo, and approximately the same dis- 

 tance to the southeast Santa Maria, and 

 the largest and most important* of all, St. 

 Michaels (Sao Miguel). 



The Azores are not, as is generally 

 supposed, a colonial possession, but form 



an integral part of Portugal. For politi- 

 cal and administrative purposes, they 

 are divided into three districts, each 

 sending its representatives to congress at 

 Lisbon. 



Owing to their location, the Azores 

 have played a very important part in the 

 history of sea navigation, just as they 

 have within the last few weeks played a 

 vital role in aerial navigation as the half- 

 way house in the epochal transatlantic 

 flight by American naval officers in the 

 American seaplane NC-4, and as ports of 

 safety for the equally daring aviators 

 who piloted the less successful NC-i and 

 NC-3. 



The keen interest that the Azoreans 

 manifested in the first transatlantic flight 

 had a deeper cause than mere curiosity. 

 They remember that the first sailing ves- 



