296 LONGEVITY OF ANIMALS. 



John Taylor was born in Carrygill, in the county of Cum- 

 berland. He was bred a miner. His father died when John 

 was only four years of age. Poverty obliged him to be set 

 early to work. During two years he dressed lead ore for two 

 pence a day. The next three or four years he assisted the 

 miners in removing the ore and rubbish to the bank, for which 

 he received fouf pence a day. At this period there happened 

 a great solar eclipse, which was distinguished in Scotland by 

 the appellation of Mirk Monday.* This event, which he al- 

 ways repeated with the same circumstances, is the chief era 

 from which John's age has been computed. After laboring 

 many years, both in this and the neighboring kingdom, he 

 died, near Lead-hills, in Scotland, in the month of May, 1770, 

 at the great age of 133. 



' An account is given by Professor Silliman, in his Journal 

 of a Tour to Quebec, of a visit which he paid, near Whitehall, 

 in the State of New- York, to a man who had reached the ex- 

 treme age of one hundred and thirty-four years. His name 

 was Henry Francisco, and he was a native of France. "He 

 believes himself to be one hundred and thirty-four years old, 

 and the country around believe him to be of this great age. 

 When we arrived at his residence (a plain farmer's house, 

 not painted, rather out of repair, and much open to the wind), 

 he was up stairs, at his daily work, of spooling and winding 

 yarn. This occupation is auxiliary to that of his wife, who is 

 a weaver, and although more than eighty years old, she 

 weaves six yards a day, and the old man can supply her with 

 more yarn than she can weave. Supposing he must be very 

 feeble, we offered to go up stairs to him ; but he soon came 

 down, walking somewhat stooping, and supported by a staff, 

 but with less apparent inconvenience than most persons ex- 

 hibit at eighty-five or ninety. His stature is of the middle 

 size, and although his person is rather delicate and slen- 

 der, he stoops but little, even when unsupported. His 

 complexion is very fair and delicate, and his expression 

 bright, cheerful, and intelligent ; his features are hand- 

 some, and, considering that they have endured through one 

 third part of a second century, they are regular, comely, and 

 wonderfully undisfigured by the hand of time ; his eyes are 

 of a lively blue ; his profile is Grecian, and very fine ; his 

 head is completely covered with the most beautiful and deli- 

 cate white locks imaginable ; they are so long and abundant 



* Mirk, in tke Scotch dialect, signifies dark ; and the eclipse happened in the year 



