Longevity.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XX, Issue 1416, 28 December 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

Longevity.

Nine hundred and ninety persons in a thousand would say that a baby in the cradle would be likely to live longer than a man of 65, but statistics prove indisputably that 500 in every 1000 infants die before the age of 5 years is recorded, while out of 1000 healthy men aged 65 more than 500 of them will be alive in five, aye in ten years, or even a' longer time. So it will be seen that a man of §5 may be considered younger than an infant as far as his chances of future life are concerned.

When are -we old ? Prof. Faraday holds that the duration of life in man and animal is five times the period of growth ; man's growth requires twenty years ; he should, therefore, under ordinary circumstances, live to be 100; extending to the 20th year ; youth to the 50th, when the tissuesbecome firm ; virility to 75, and old age from 75 to 100.

Dr. Farr favors 100 years for the tenure of life, but makes these divisions : Boyhood, 10 to 15 ; youth. 15 to 25 ; manhood, 25 to f>s ; maturity, 55 to 75 ; ripeness, 75 to 85, anl old age from 85 upward. Prof. J. E. Buchanan places the attainable limits of longevity at 140, and he cites the fourteen people of that age found in Italy by a censes under one of the late Eoman emperors.

The famous old Mr. Parr, of London, died at 155 from a surfeit of eating. Coming down to the present there are many instances of passing the century limit. , Chev- t renl r the famous French chemist, celebrated the 100 th anniversary of his birth a short time ago.

Icebergs. — The birth of a huge iceberg, a phenomenon that has been seen only once or twice by a European, and to a certain extent has remained a matter of theory, was observed by the Danish explorers on the east coast of Greeuland last summer. The bergs aro formed by breaking off from the^end of glaciers extending from the perpetual ice of the unexplored interior to the coast and into the sea. The water buoys up the sea end of tbe glacier until it breaks by its own weight, with a loud noise that sounds like thunder miles away. The commotion of the water, as the iceberg turns over and over in the effort to attain its balance, is felt to a great distance along the coast. Tbe natives regard it as the work of evil spirit*, and believe that to look npon ibe glacier in its tiiroes is death. The Danish officers, when observing the breaking off of the end of the great glacier Puissortok through their telescopes, were roughly ordered by their Esquimaux escort, usually submissive enough, to follow their example and turn their backs on the interesting scene. They had, happily, completed their observations and avoided an embarrassing conflict with their crew by a seeming compliance with the order.

Where Bobolinks go in Winter-— Bobolink is a very handy-looking fellow, proud as a belle who has danced with the Prince of Wales or the Duke of Alexis. He has a habit of singing his -rattling notes in tbe air, .and hovering "*until the rollicking solo is finished ; or if he commences his song on a stake or tree he never rises until the music is completed. Many writers have tried to imitate his song. Bryant and Irving both gave him a prominent place in their written picture galleries.

When I was a boj on a farm we used to call him the corn-planting bird, and, as we read his song, he said, " Dig a hole, dig a hole, put it in, covert up, covert up, stamp on't, step along." He wore his parti-colored suit, the main portion of a genteel black, a little whitish-yellow powder in his hair, as if he had poked his head into a lily and carried away the pollen, aud ashoulder : strap of the same on each side of the neck, proving him a brigadier in the army of peace. In the autumn the Bobolinks go South on a furlough, take off their gaudy uniform, put on suits of rusty black, change their name, and become either reed birds or rice birds.

HaWts of the Prairie Dog-— Mr. E. S. Noble, of Elk Eapids, Michigan, brought home from Colorado about a year ago two prairie dogs. They are Etill alive and irf good condition. Mr. Noble informs me that they drink water not often but copioußly, There is not the slightest doubt as to this fact. A gentleman from whom one of these animals were obtained, and who has shown a good deal of interest in their habits, is of opinion that there is always a large hole which leads to water in each of their villages, and that itis used by all the inhabitants. In this connection Mr. Noble raised the question how the vast number of rabbits inhabiting the great arid plains , of" the West are supplied with water. The distance at which it appears to be from their ordinary haunts is often very great, and they, of course, are not supposed to construct wells.

The Thirsty Eucalyptus- —Of the thirsty eucalyptus tree tbe San Francisco Bulletin states that, twenty.five feet from where one was growing, a man dug a well, lined it with cement, and placed over it a substantial covef. The. water was carried to the house from the well in a wooden pipe.' In the wooden pipe was- a«knothole. In time the well began to give ftp. Tha water, too, was acquiring a strange taste. Exploration developed the fact thai; the well had been filled up with masses of eucalyptus roots. The tree had rnn a root straight for the knothole twenty-fire feet off, and, by that method, gained fclie well itself.

TJie A B O ot Socialistic disturbances-— Anarchy, Deer, aud OJawon