Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1895-05-14
THE SPANS OF LIFE.
p,FeeAsNces or DURATION IN MEN
AND ANIMALS

AND ANIMALS
One % ltAs Shortest 10 that Of the May
~ ana One 81 tho Longest the Ele-
phasais-Amoas lnsssts the Period Of
Aduis Llss Varies Greatly.
An Essay of Weismann, charming
and profound and written before the
possession Of q logical theory had car.
ried him into arid metaphysics, dis
cussed )he duration Of life In men and
Animal& To many. perhaps to most,
living things. death comes unexpected
II, with an ironical indifference to the
period IL the animals life or to its bus
iness Of the moment The man may DO
preparing to be merry; the bird may be
B. building. the butterfly not Jet dry
from thb chrysalis, when they are fallen
upon b. blind mischanoe, by enemies
Intent chilly on dinner or by unthinking
microhh Confronted by such extrinsio
accidents, men cry out after their kind,
the poek attuning an Intellectual lam.
entatiod, the moralist preaching. the
pagan brging to the day Of pleasure.
but the naturalist must be dumb His
opportuhity comes with tho animals
that avoid or escape oolliding fates, and
that yeti after fixed period run down
like a clock. The seeds of deaths appar.
emily have been lying inert in the body
and couIe TO fatal maturity after lapse
of timel that varies little among indi-
viduals BIZ tho same species. but that is
widely different among different kinds
Of amin Is
Three core and ten IL the natural
period Of mans life The elephant will
live 20Olyears, the horse but half CEN
fury. Singing birds and fowls and pleas.
ants viii live for nearly 90 years, but
parrots, eagles, falcons and swans arc
known tb survive their century. Some
live Though nearly two centuriea
Queen ants and working ants may live
for yeark Sir John Lubbock kept
queen ALT alive for IS years, during all
which pIriod she continued to lay fer.
tile eggsl but the males live only few
DAYS Queen bees live two or three
wears; wbrkers and drones few months,
although indeed in one sense the death
of the latter Is unnatural, as the work
ers drivel them away from the stores OF
food, 20 that they perish Of starvation.
Among insects generally the period Of
adult lhb varies greatly. Many, like
she May HES, dance in the sun only for
q few hobrs; the sexes meet, the eggs
are deposited and tho creatures die be.
fore nig3tfalL Many butterflies and
moths arb unprovided with feeding or
aans andi live only q few hours, others
for nyidaya
Leaving out Of count certain minor
factors, Ike tho time required for grow
ing TO a, larger size and tho slower
growth Of animals that must waste time
and enerdy in capturing living food. 1t
Is certainithat there Is IN intimate con-
pcction all through the animal kingdom
between the duration Of life and the
reproductive habits Animals, in one
sense. are like the bright and fragrant
flowers ~ plants; since when their
function Rs accomplished. when seeds
are form.ld, they wither and perish
The BUSINESS Of tho animal seems to be,
not to livd its own life. but to reproduce
Its own kind. and the term Of life at its
disposal / adjusted accurately to the
special difficulties Of this purpose.
Weismanll and Alfred Russell Wallace
suggest thht death comes rs soon as pos
sible after the due number Of successors
has been produced, in order that each
species may always be represented by q
full tale o. young and vigorous indivi-
duals Natural selection acts like con-
tractor WHO has undertaken TO keep q
window Tx gay with fresh blossoms;
each plantmust be removed almost be.
fore its fioFers fade
But ouripresent concern Is with the
fact rather than with explanation Of the
fact. Taking the needs Of reproduction
a. mastet key, We find 1t unlocking
the secretsiof inequalities Of life. The
May flies live only few hours. but
their eggs lre produced abundantly and
have only 70 be dropped into pools from
which THEFT parents. leaving their chrys-
ais. sprank into the sunny air. The
short lived moths and butterflies SINH
larry are Aniroubled by family cares
When the ,Iggs have TO be- deposited OH
common ard abundant food plants the
females ne,h and possess few hours in
which to Accomplish their easy task.
The males, Ton the other hand, have to
| fly about seiking and sometimes fight
| ing for POSSESSION Of the females, aud
to them lbnger life il allotted. But
terfiies aud imoths that live for more
than few hays are those whose cater.
pillars require rarer food plant.
more carefully chosen nursery and feed
ing ground The females have to fly
about seeking convenient spots for their
offspring, aud the eggs, instead Of ripen.
ing and beibg deposited Simultaneous.
ly, are laid from day to day until the
full tale bp accomplished In many
tribes Of bets the males play their part
but once, ahd that during the nuptial
flight Of the queen. Immediately after.
ward they die or shortly after arc killed
by the workyrs The queens, secluded in
the middle df the hive. produce crops
Of workers year after year. and SO their
lives are prolonged.
I Among tbe birds and beasts parental
cares have thought length Of days with
them. The small singing birds are rapid
breeders, sorbetimes producing five or
sex nestlingI twice year, but their
enemies are equally numerous. and de-
spite the conf tant attention OF the male
and female play such havoc with the
young that hardly in 20 years Will a
pair rear up young enough to maintain
the species. Birds like pheasants and
fowls are shll more prolific. but old
and young lilIe are preyed upon by mul-
titude of enehies The birds Of prey are
slow breedenl Their active fight makes
l.. IL