The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1872-07-12

because they could not suck. The
keepers filed their nostrils with tow,
and tried various other devices, but II
did no good. They could get no sus'
tenance, and persisted in consequence.
| The average age of the lion is probably
about thirty wears. There is this, how
ever. TO be said about him: In the do
| mesticated state he never has "a chance.
He PAGES backward and forward in the
| nutshell of a cage. In Paris and Lon
don the bear has his pole, the deer his
paddock, and the otter his pool, where
each has liberty enough to preserve his
health. but the lion is stalled like an
OK, till he grows puffy and lethargic.
OF all the terrestrial mammalia, the
elephant seems to be the longest liver,
sometimes exceeding century. One
historical individual is reported to have
attained much greater age. When
Alexander the Great invaded the do.
minions of Porus, one of the Rajahs
of Upper India, he took great ele.
phant from the conquered Prince,
named him Ajax, dedicated him to the
sun, and let him go with this inscrip-
ton, Alexander, the son of Jupiter,
hath dedicated Ajax to the SUM-" The
animal is said to have been found with
the inscription $50 years afterward. 1t
need hardly be remarked, TO prevent
full credence being given to this rela-
ton, that it rests upon the very dubi-
Gus authority of ancient times. How
ever, the elephant, beyond doubt, often
rounds the century and, If not the
king, is entitled to be considered the
patriarch of beasts.
The hare, rabbit, and squirrel, if they
escape the gun of the sportsman, sell
dom outlive the seventh year. The av-
erage age of the fox is from twelve to
fifteen years; of the cat about fifteen,
and of the wolf from eighteen to TWEEN
ty years. The horse, in domestic
state, does not often live longer than
twenty-five years, and the ass ranges TO
about the same period. Old age pros
trated Copenhagen, the famous steed
of the Duke of Wellington, at the age
of twenty-seven. But the wild horse
is supposed to attain much greater
age and there is case on record, well
authenticated, OF a pony, imported into
Berkshire, England, from Shetland, in
1856, living till lS4S. Swine have been
known to live through thirty years, deer
eighteen, and camels fifty, though the
average ages of all these are much less.
The dog loses his sprightliness in his
sixth or seventh year, and has evidently
passed the bounds of youth. Gray hairs
are here and there upon him at the
close of his eighth year, chiefly around
the eyes ard at the corners of his mouth.
Such appearances become more con-
spicuous to the eleventh or twelfth year.
when actual decrepitude usually com.
mences, and increases 50 rapidly that
by the fourteenth year the animal is a
burden to himself and nuisance to
Others. But dogs have fingered 10
twenty years. Hexior, a shaggy spaniel
OF German breed, of unusual lite and
intelligence, was received at four years
old by lady in London, in 1854, and
did not die until Christmas day of 1870.
1t was Hexior's good fortune TO live in
a mansion full of dogs and empty of
children. Her history could be woven
into a story. From being the equal of
her canine associates, she became the
preferred, and from that the associate
of her mistress. As her years increased
she grew TO be que of the household.
She had language for every need Of
her life, and ii was heard, understood,
and obeyed. No one of her associates
they were seven in number-eYer en-
tered her luxurious kennel, or touched
her dainty repast, or followed her to her
intimacies with hermistress, or passed the
threshold in her company when she
talr In,, .lo,l D..
of character she held her own to the last,
and in her dying hour, on pillow in
boudoir, her eyes following her mistress
while life was was painting toward its
goal, subdued all frolic among the
usually noisy tribe, every member of
which was present, and passed away
with the dignity of the patriarch Jacob,
when she gathered up his feet in his
bed and yielded up the ghost"
The average age of the sheep does
not exceed ten years. To that period
they live, breed, and thrive well. There
are instances, however, of a much more
protracted age. Somervilles speaks of
Spanish ram that maintained his virile
power twenty-three years, and survived
two years longer and a eve, in Denvon.
SHIRE, yedneu par OF lamDS Wnen
shearling produced two pairs annually
for seventeen years, and single lamb
for each of three years more. In Scot
land the guide-sheep-old wethers
who are kept on purpose to lead the
flocks across the mountains and through
the unfrequented wilds-average full
twenty years of life.
Cows and oxen generally reach the
age of IL, without diminution of their
powers. Rings around their horns tell
the number of their days. At four years
old a ring is formed at the roots of the
horns, and every succeeding year an.
other is added. Thus, by adding three
to the number of rings upon the horns,
the age of the animal is arrived at.
Among the feathered creation the
eagle and raven, the swan and parrot,
are each centenarians. An eagle kept
in Vienna died after confinement of
one hundred and fourteen years, and on
an ancient oak in Selborne, still known
as the craven tree" the same pair OF
ravens are believed to have fixed their
residence for a series of more than ninety
years. Swans upon the River Thames,
about whose age there can be no mis-
take sipca rhav ara ppuallv niclxad Inv