The Yazoo Democrat., 1854-09-20
Animal Life.


ing anything like solid nutriment, yet there are
some tribes Of animals that appear capable not
only of subsisting upon this, but upon even the
still less substantial diet. air. Leeches aud tad
poles, besides various kinds Of fishes. (among
which is the gold fish, will live upon water
alone. Numerous experiments have been made
by philosophers to test the truth of this matter
beyond peradventure. Rondelet kept silver
fish in pure water alone for three years, and at
the end of that period it had grown as large as
the glass globe that contained it. Several spe-
cies of the carp kind. it is said, have similar
power; and even the pike, one OF the most yo-
racious of the fnny tribes. will thrive upon wa
ter in marble basin. All kinds of amphibi-
Gus animals are particularly tenacious of life,
and not only frogs and toads, but tortoises, liz
ards, and serpents, are we'll known to have exis-
ted for months, and even years, without other
food than water, and in some cases, only air
1t is stated on good authority that person once
kept two horned snakes in glass jar for two
years, without giving them anything It
was not observed that they slept in the winter
season, and they cast their skins as usual about
the lst of April. Lizards have been found i'm
bedded in chalk rocks, and toads have been dis
covered in wood, blocks of marble and other
situations where, to all appearance, they must
have been entombed for many years. Snails and
chameleons, it has been repeatedly asserted, will
live upon air alone. II is also said that spiders
will live on the same light Diet and that though
they viii devour other food, they really do not
need it to support life. Latreille confirms this
statement by an experiment which he made
with a spider, By sticking it to cork, and pre-
Guiding it from communication with anything
else for four successive months; aud at the
end of that time it was as lively as ever
A writer In the Philosophical Transactions
states tina; he kept beetle in a glass coniine-
ment for three years, without food. The larvae
of ants are not only supported on air, but actu
ally grow in bulk. II would appear however
from the experiments made by NJ. Goldberry
in 1856, that the usually received opinion that
the chameleon feeds on air is vulgar error
He subjected seven of them to this ordeal and
they all died save one in three months and twen-
ty three days. So ii would appear that they
could survive, like many other animals, for a
time upon the oxygen the atmosphere affords,
but could not subsist upon it continuously
The instances we have cited, however are suf-
6cieHt to show that some animals require very
little, and in some cases not any, Of what we
usually denominate food, to support existence.
Numerous instances might be cited where rnr-
sons have survived for many days without nu-
ment. A woman CONDEMNED to death. in the
reign Of Richard H., lived forty days without
food or drink A young lady, sixteen years OF
age, is mentioned in the Edinburgh Medical Es-
says for 1920, who was thrown into such vio-
len: tetanus, that she was unable to swallow
for fifty four days, and when she came into the
natural state again, she declared that she had no
sense of hunger or thirst. A still more extra
ordinary account than this is related of man
who upon recovering from an infammatory fe-
yer, had such dislike to food of all kinds, that
for eighteen years he never tasted anything but
water. All will recolIect the case of the sleep
ing man from Rochester, who was exhibited In
this city last summer, and who had not partaken
of food for a long time. Catshave been known
to live ,er two years without drinking.-N. Y
.Sunddu Times.