Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1871-08-04
Duration Of Animal Life.

Duration OF Animal LlI6s
THE duration of the life of any particu
lar animal depends on its kind of structure,
elementary and anatomically, as well as
upOn its place and mode of subsistence.
Some have their lives extended TO cen
tury, whilst others live but few hours. If
We examine the longest lived, such as
some reptiles, the whale, some kinds OF
birds, the elephant, and man, we will find
the tissues of which they are composed,
are 80 slowly changed, under the normal
condition OF their lives, the growth, alb |
sorption, and renewal of them being of
such a character, that the induration
which makes the decrepitude of age, is
slow in taking place The land tortoise,
reptile well known for longevity, is con-
structed of II gelatiuous muscular fiber,
with comparatively soft bones and shell.
He lives on vegetable matter, moves about
slowly, becomes fat, and is torpid during
the cold weather With few enemies TO
molest him when encased in his shell,
those that pass from the egg state To this
defense live year after year in lazy security,
and answer the purpose of their creation,
They do not harden and grow stiff by ex-
cessivc labor as do man, the horse and the
| dog, and thus become prematuFely old
Fish, particularly the larger kinds, attain
great age. Whales are supposed to live
a century. But little accuracy can be ex
pected in computing the years these mon
sters roam through the different
seas, but evidence from harpoons bearing
ship marks, and dates, found imbedded in
captured whales, is conclusive that the
adult whale will live the greater part of a
mans life without undergoing much
change. The slow propagation of these
| ha nf
fiber enveloped in fat, their food, all tend
to that slow assimilation and expenditure
of nutritious matter, which is most con
sistent with a long life.
The peculiar lfie element, nitrogen,
animal a2nS existsnGe iten' W6t4e pe dI6555a I6555a oGbR!
sists almost entirely of nitrOgenous COM
pounds such as flesh, the greater amount
of vitality impaired to such as live on
this food, hurries them through their eX-
istence, other conditions being equal, in a
shorter time than those which feed on q
less stimulating nourishment. The tor
toise and the whale are supported by veg
etable, and other matter, that contains but
little nitrogen compared with food of car
niverous animals The whole lion tribe,
whatever may be their magnitude and or
ganization, soon show symptoms of age
The cxertion necessary to procure food
strains every muscle to its greatest ten
! sion, and these muscles need constant
supplies of highly animalized matter to
, restore their waste. This wearing away,
and renewal, hardens the tissues that are
thus constantly in state of action until
they become unfit to perform their per
feet functions, and at period early com
, pared with the time it took to bring them
to maturity, these carnivora fall into de-
cay. An old, worn-Out lion is not unusual
in the Jungle. The buffalo, Thinoceros
, and hippopotamus, less stimulated by
l thni- -,~l.",@Ifl, sccI. a"d loss exercised la
. It's procurement, live to greater age.
, Without bringing other examples in
) proof of the kind of food aud excrtion
! necessary to maintain lie having an in.
, tiuence upon longevity, the laws that on
, crate to this end, when duly considered
/, will show the harmony of the whole
animal economy. The time appointed fol
the individuals Of each race to live, seems
adjusted to the accomplishment of their
peculiar work. The ephemera, in the sun
shine for a few hours, fulfil their function
and die. Their larvie are longer in coming
to maturity, but one short season rounds
the whole existence, from the embryo to
the perfect insect and during these stages
whether it has been crtated for deviation
or to be dovOured by some other, the wave
OF life has swelled and subsidized All that
remains can rest until another season
when by the air and the sun it will be sci
in motion to repeat the same phenomena
Other beings, having purposes to accom-
plish that cannot be embraced in so short
, period, have slower organization.
1t would be curious to trace the connec-
tion between the elements of the sir and
influences of the sun in the life process
AID to accurately determine how much
, nitrogen, one of the elements of the air
and the principal constituent of all the
vital parts of animals and plants, has to
do with the duration of organic existence
That kind Of structure requiring alto
gether food of which this element consti
J. tutes the greatest part, such as the viscera
and flesh of animals, should, with the
. vigor impaired to it by such aliment, live
as long as that depending on the scantI
supply of nitrogen obtained from vegeta
bles, is not consistent with the idea thai
the descrepitude of old age is nothing
8 more than the hardening OF tissues by The
. amount of resistance they have had t
I overcome. The life force is most rapidly
aud most powerfully expended in the car
nivora and if they are such as by thei
habits require a daily supply 60 meet thu
exercise to which they are daily subjected
0 their lives must be shorter than those al
y continually, although not as powerfully
3 called into action, that feed upon vegeta
i bles. In the latter, the life process being
Q slower, induratiOn is later in causing de
t crepitude.-James B. Coleman, M d., il
D Beecher's Magazine.