It is not therefore in the physical but in the spiritual constitution that the real basis of his character, his health, and longevity is to be found, for the primitive germ or protoplasm of man cannot be distinguished from that of a quadruped or bird. It is the invisible and incalculable life element that contains the potentiality or possibility of existence as a quadruped or a man, as a virtuous or vicious, and as a long lived or short lived, being. The life element of the germ limits the destiny of the being. That life element is invisible. This truth, however, does not contradict the truth of development and the capacity of science to estimate the probable health or longevity of an individual from his organization, for the life force organizes a body in accordance with its own character; and the development of the entire person shows the character of the vital force as modified by the environment of food, air, motives, and education. The brain, no less than the body,--indeed, more fully than the body,--shows the elements of the life and the tendency to health and longevity, or the reverse, upon which an expert cranioscopist can give an opinion. In accordance with the doctrine of influx and in accordance with the functions of the brain we are compelled to recognize health and longevity as more closely associated with the higher than the lower faculties,--the moral rather than the animal nature. This is the reason that woman, with a feebler body but a stronger moral nature, ranks higher in health and longevity than man; and although from four to sixteen per cent more males are born, women are generally in predominance, often from two to six per cent. The researches of the Bureau of Statistics of Vienna show that about one third more women than men reach an advanced age. De Verga asserts that of sudden deaths there are about 100 women to 780 men. The inevitable inference is that the cultivation of virtue or religion is the surest road to longevity, and the indulgence in vice and crime the most certain ruin to the body and soul. There is a curious illustration of these principles in the evidence of life insurance companies in reference to spirit drinking and abstinence. The oldest two life insurance companies of England, the General Provident and the United Kingdom, have made records for forty-five years which distinguish the total abstainers and the moderate drinkers. Drunkards they do not insure at all. The care with which lives are selected for insurance results in a smaller rate of mortality among the insured than in the entire population. This gain was but slight among those classed as moderate drinkers, for their mortality was only three per cent less than the average mortality; but among the total abstainers it was thirty-one per cent less. Thus the proportion of deaths among moderate drinkers compared to that of total abstainers is as 97 to 69.