Hawaii Holomua, Volume II, Number 19, 23 Ianuali 1894 — How Long Animals Live. [ARTICLE]

How Long Animals Live.

Tho horso, in a «lomestic doos not ofton live longer tlian from 20 to 25 years. and the ass usuallv ranges to aboot tho simo period. The wild horse is snpposed toreach amuoh gieater age; and a remarkab!o case is ou record of even the doraestic auimal attaiuing 02 years. The average life of tho eow is 15 years, aud a eow s age eau be told by its horus. At four yoars of age a ring is formetl at tho root, and eaeh sncceeding yoar another is addod. Dogs usually Iive till thov aro 14 years of age. At 6or 7 years the animal vivacity seems to diojiuish, iudicatiug tho fact that he has passed tho bounds of vonth. At 8 gray hairs ean bo detected, chiefly around the eyes aud at tbe coruers of tho iuoath. Theso heeonie moro pronounced iu the eleventh or twelfth year. when actial decrepitnde sets in and deve!ops so surely that by tho fora-teenth year the old favorite becomes a burdon to hiraself and a nuisance to othors. Dogs, however, soraetimes linger to twenty yoars. A cal’s lifo is nearly on a par with tho dog’s, usually extending to about tiftoon years. Pigs have beon kuown to drag out a lazy existenco for thirtv • m years, but their averago term is less. Up to tho ago of ten yoars sheep will usnallv live, au*l thrive tolerab!y well. The “guidesheep ’ of shephords, old wethers whose vocatiou is to d roct tho bleatiug Hocks in uufroquentod wilds, aro said to attaiu tho ago of 20 years. The haro and rabbit, if they manago to steer cloar of tho sportsraen’s guns, Iive ubout seven years. Tho averago age of tho fox is from twelve to fifteen yoars, and of tbe wolf frora fifteen to twenty. The bear rarely exceeds twenty years, an age whieh the rhiuoceros usaally attains. The oamel arrives at maturity in tive yoars, livos to forty or fifty and in rare instances heeoiuea a centenarian. The lion, commonly reputed a long-lived anim.il, doen not osually go beyond twenty-five years. although tbere have beeu instauces of members of the tnbe attaiuing the age of seventy and upward. Of all the auimals tlie elephant carries the palm for longevity, his average span rcac hing the century, aud fre<icently overtopping it. Kespectiug the age of this patriarchal mamm.il an o!d tale is told. Whe Alexander tho Great invaded the dominions of Perus, one of tbe rajahs of upper Iodia, he took a great elephant from the conqaere<l priuce, namod him Ajax, dedicated him to tho san, and let him go with this inscription: “Alexander, the son of Japiter, hath dedicated A;ax to tbe sua." Tbo animal is said to have been foaud ali*e with tho inscription apon him 350 years afterward. —Fkuadtlphia Star.

*‘Aagastus,” *iid Ang-*lina to ber loT*r, ‘*vou kao» that talher ha* receatiy ioTeated io aa Amt>r:caa silver mine, aad ia going there at onee, aad I einool leave mother aioo?. So I as'£ yi»o, dear Auguatus, how long wouid jou wait for roe? J ’ “Wait for you, roy dir!ing?” exciaitued Augu*tu.<i, “1 wiil wait for you until we Iearn how thu »llver niiue turna out,”