Abstract
LAMB1 has pointed out that if Pearl's2 “rate of living” theory of ageing is true the expected life span of poikilo-therms such as Drosophila kept for half their lives at one temperature and half at another is the harmonic mean of their expectations of life at the two temperatures. This is, of course, no different from the expression of Shaw and Bercaw3, which was based on the assumption that the ageing process is a consequence of a loss of a “longevity substance” or of “vitality” and that in poikilotherms the rate of this loss is accelerated by raising the temperature.
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References
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HOLLINGSWORTH, M. Fluctuating Temperatures and the Length of Life in Drosophila. Nature 221, 857–858 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1038/221857a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/221857a0
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