THE YOUNG NATUEALIST. 



upon the continuance of circumstances under 

 which they ean exist. Fish and reptiles, 

 cold blooded animals, live slowly. They 

 can survive for a long time without food, 

 and some of them feed but at lengthy 

 intervals. It is no wonder therefore that 

 they attain great ages. The Golden Carp 

 will live in a " globe" for many years with- 



protected when in confinement, but they 

 are doubtless more subject to disease from 

 unhealthy conditions, want of natural 

 exercise and perhaps want of their natural 

 food, than when in a wild state. Thus, 

 though the advantage is certainly on the 

 side of domesticated animals, it is more 

 than likely they would attain a still greater 

 age in a natural state if they could then 

 be protected from their enemies, and 

 extremes of weather, while enough food 

 could always be relied on. These of course 

 are impossible conditions, and are only 

 referred to, to show how little we know of 

 the age animals might attain. 



Turning to inferior animals, we know 

 with some degree of certainty that the 

 duration of life in certain species of insects 

 is but very brief after they attain the 

 perfect state. The life of the Ephemera is 

 so short that their name has been intro- 

 duced into the language as a synonym of 

 brevity. Yet with all our knowledge of 

 insects, we are only now learning that some 

 of them live much longer than has generally 

 been supposed. In our first volume (p. 134) 

 is an account of the home management of 

 the Plunger Beetle (Dyticus marginalis) , in 

 which a specimen is mentioned as having 

 been reared in confinement and kept alive 

 for nearly three years, when it wasaccidently 

 killed. Sir John Lubbock, too, has had ants 

 in confinement for seven or eight years, 

 which being without a queen must of 

 necessity have existed this period at least. 

 Still lower in grade is a Sea Anemone in an 

 aquarium at Edinburgh, that has existed 

 there for over seventy years, and continues to 

 produce its young year after year, as though 

 it were quite unaffected by the lapse of time. 

 Animals of jthis kind reproducing by bud- 

 ding, or by fissuration, give to their progeny 

 a portion of their own vitality as it were, 

 and if the animals so produced are con- 

 sidered part of the original being, the 

 duration of their life seems to depend only 



out food, and retain its size during the 

 time. These may, it is true, find some 

 small animalcule even in the fresh spring 

 water with which they are supplied, but it 

 can scarcely be worth naming. In the 

 tanks at Versailles, Carp are said to have 

 lived two hundred years, though really that 

 seems quite incredible, but other fish, Pike 

 for instance have been captured, bearing 

 rings with engraved dates of former 

 capture, which, if correct proves an equally 

 great age. Crocodiles and Tortoises have 

 been known to live over the century, always 

 if the evidence can be relied on, and it is 

 but the want of belief in the evidence that 

 prevents us accepting as authentic the tales 

 of Frogs and Toads embedded in stone, or 

 enclosed in the solid wood of trees. 



It is evident from what has been said 

 above, that the evidence, such as it is, points 

 to many animals of various kinds that may 

 and probably do live for more than a 

 hundred years. 



The fact has frequently been commented 

 upon that dead birds and mammals are 

 rarely seen, but few die a natural death. 

 As they become older they become less 

 active, less able to defend themselves, or 

 escape from the enemies that prey upon 

 them, and thus most of the smaller species 

 will fall victims and be devoured by 

 predacious animals. Those that may die of 

 disease or old age, seek out places of con- 

 cealment when they feel themselves ailing, 

 and die there, to be buried by sexton beetle, 

 or devoured by insect larvae. It is true 

 there appears to be some exceptions to this. 

 Moles and Shrew Mice are perhaps oftener 



