PREFACE. 



A PRIZE was recently offered in the University of Oxford 

 for an Essay on Longevity, and was awarded to the 

 little treatise now published. In the following pages the 

 scope proposed in the subject given for the essay, viz. ' The 

 Comparative Longevity of different species of lower Animals 

 and the Longevity of Man in different states of Civilization,' 

 has been adhered to. The subject does not admit of very 

 satisfactory treatment from a scientific point of view, and is 

 accordingly one which probably few persons would have 

 selected to write upon, unless under special circumstances, 

 such as were present in this case. At the same time, 

 Longevity is a subject of great popularity, and hence the 

 facts and arguments herein set forth may, it is hoped, 

 interest the public. One result which I hope to attain, by 

 the favour of those who may read my pages, is the accu- 

 mulation of an increased number of really trustworthy facts 

 bearing on the questions raised. I venture to beg all those 

 who have it in their power to communicate such facts to 

 me, to do so. 



E. R. L. 



Melton Housf, Hampstead, 

 December i8, 1869. 



