Cheyenne transporter. [volume] (Darlington, Indian Terr.) 1879-1886, 1884-09-30
etative existence is permitted to go on,

liable to u hundred accidents from
which they are exempt AT this mo-
ment there is thriving in an aquarium
in Edinburgh specimen of the com
mon -anemone which can not be less
than between 20 and 80 years old.
What was its age when Sir John Gra
ham Dalyell detached it from the rock
we can not even guess. But since that
day ii has seen four masters die three
Of them at more Than middle life-and
yet it still goes on producing genera
tion after generation OF young, and
seemingly prepared to continue its
simple functions SO long as its fresh
beef and its salt water are secure.
How far civilization affects longevity
might be debated. In a well-kept
menagere there is the minimum of
toll, danger, and loss of tissue. Food
is certain, anxiety there is none, enc
mics-against which the wild animals
must be forever watchful-are un-
known; and in their luxurious cages
they are safe from the vicissitudes of
weather, which are so apt to abridge
their years, while enjoying that free
dom which is to them ga heritage of
woe" Indeed, if we except the i'm
mincnt risk of overlooking and the
lack of healthy exercise, animals in
confinement are subject to nothing
which can interfere with their reach
ing the limits of the existence possible
to their species. Cold-blooded brutes,
such as fishes and reptiles; waste their
tissues slowly, and hence attain very
long life. Crocodiles have been known
to live for more than century; tor
toises quite as aged are mentioned by
trustworthy writer's; carp, said to be
bicentenarian, swan in some of the
Versailles tanks; pike equally veneer
able are on record; and in the impe
rial fish ponds of ancient Rome we
hear of lampreys which had seen sixty
summers.
Indeed, provided there is no inherit
ed disease, that the tissues are healthy,
and the decay in those essential to vi
tality slow, there need he no specified
limit to life in these cold -blooded be-
ings. The wear and tear of the organs
is, however, much faster among the
more vigorous birds and mammals.
Yet centenarian eagles, jackdaws, ra-
vens, and crows have been known. and
the parrot, whose decease, full of
years and the affection of two genera
tiOns of children, was lately announced
can not claim singularity in respect of
its age, since 60 is not uncommon
period for its family to attain. Pea
cocks rarely pass 20 years, while from
to II is as long as the average barn
door fowl can be kept, though diff
ferent impression prevails among the
experienced habitues of low-priced
boarding-houses. The elephant com
monty lives to century, the camel to
about the same age as man, the horse
seldom passes forty, the deer thirty,
the OK fifteen to twenty, sheep, goats,
foxes, hares, and rabbits from seven to
ten, and dogs and pigs from fifteento
twenty years. Every now and then
paragraph goes the rounds of the con
tinental press relating how a wild
goose, or duck, has been captured in
Pomerania, or some equally remote
part of Germany, with a collar around
its neck, the inscription on which
proves that it had been set at liberty
by some kaiser, or oberwald control
leur, at any time varying from one hun.
dred to two hundred and fifty years
ago. Such tales of wonder-the period
for the dissemination of which is near
at hand must be received with Judi
cious incredulity. 1t is. however,
known that the size of an animal bears
no ratio to its longevity. Most of the
smaller birds die after five or six years,
while the blackbird, goldtinch, and
canary are affirmed by DR.. McKen-
drick, on what he regards as authentic
data, to live for nearly four times that
brief span. Sir Richard Owen has