The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1896-06-13

LONGEVITY or ANIMALS.
Some Are Supposed to Live Hun
dreds Of Yesr1.
An article in the Journal d 'Hygi:
enc Paris) translated for the Liter.
airy Digest, says:
MAN lives to all ages, but in the
animal kingdom, on the contrary,
the duration of life is almost exact
~ equal for all individuals of the
same species. But we can know
with exactness the real duration OF
life only for animals. in servitude ;
We do not know whether it is the
same in the savage state. Rabbits
and guinea pigs live only years ;
squirrels and hares, 8; cats, 8 or
10; dogs, 10 or IL; foxes. ID to Is ;
cattle, Is to 18; bears and wolves,
20; the rhinoceros, %; the ass and
the horse, Is to 80; the lion, 80 to
40 "a lion in the Geological Gardens
reached the sge of 20 years.; the
camel, 40. The length of life of the
elephant is uncertain; according to
Aristotle, Button and Culver, it lives
two centuries; some authors 8; y
even five. After his: victory over
Porus, Alexader consecrated to the
sun an elphant that had fought for
the Indian monarch, and gave it
the name of Ajax; then, having at
tached an inscription to it, he set it
at liberty; the animal was found
$50 years later. The ancients attrib-
uted to the stag a fabulous length
of life, but Aristotle observes that
what is reported on this subject has
no foundation. Button
says that the stag takes five or six
years to attain full growth and
should live seven times this period ;
that is, IS or 40 years.
Though precise observations are
wanting. we know that fishes, espec-
tally the large species, live q very
long time. Carps have been known
to live at least $50 years, and they
then seemed to Button as lively and
agile as ordinary carp. Dolphins,
surgeons and sharks live more than
a century and attain huge size.
Pixies have been, seen weighing 1000
pounds, which indicates very long
existence. A pike caught at Kaisers-
Lauturn in 1897 was 10 feet long,
and weighed $50 pounds; it bore in
its gills copper ring with an in
scription stating that it had been
put in the pond at Lauturn by or
der of the Emperor Frederick II;
that is 261 years before. Whale
fishers have exterminated the huge
whales of the Polar seas; those that
were formerly met with were of pro-
digious dimensions. 1t is supposed,
with some probability, that they live
several centuries, and that they may
even reach an age of 1000 years.
The longevity of fish is attributed
to the long duration of the devel-
opment, to their low temperature,
and to their feeble vitality.
ION the other hand we meet an
other class of animals whose pas
sions are lively, whose vitality is
very active, and who still live a
long time-we mean birds. But it
is not known with any degree of
precision how long these live, ex-
;ept that their longevity is great.
We see the same swallows return
ing to their accustomed nests for a
considerable number of years. An
eagle died at Vienna at the age of
LOB years. According to Button,
the life of the crow is 10S years
and no observation authorizes US
to attribute to it, with Hesiod,
1000 years. A paroquet brought
70 Florence in 1888 by the Princess
Provere d'Urbin, when she went
here to espouse the Grand Duke
Ferdinand, was. then at least 20
years old and lived nearly 100
years more. A naturalist whose
testimony cannot be doubted, Viii.
oughby, had certain proof that
goose lived a century; and Button
lid not hesitate to conclude that
he swans life is longer yet; some
authors give it two and even three
centuries. Mallerton possessed the
'ke!eton of swan that lived 3O7
'ears. This is quite enough to
prove that among the larger ami.
nails. and also especially among
birds, the duration of life, relatively
o their bulk and height is very
ong; it is, on the contrary, very
hort with insects; many of these
i've less than a month, rarely few
ears, while the life of the epheme.
ids is but seven to twelve hours,
nd in this brief space they accom-
'lish the principal functions that
lature requires of organized bodies
hey are born, reproduce and de-"
Thrilling Episode Of tho Cyclone.
The st. Louis Republic says:
While the terrible storm was at its