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182 AGE annum ; while in Russia the returns of 1842 gave 3^ per cent, for the mortality of the whole empire, and considerably more than this for certain provinces, including the basins of the Volga, the Dnieper, and the Don. The aver- age duration of life is therefore higher in Eng- land than in Russia ; but we might probably find as many cases of exceptional longevity in Russia as in England, if statistical returns were made with equal care in the two countries. Comparative longevity has not received as much attention as the averages of mortality and the mean duration of existence in civilized states, but numerous authentic records of indi- vidual cases may be found in every nation. Pliny gives some instances of longevity taken exclusively from the region between the Apen- nines and the Po, as found on the record of the census instituted by Vespasian ; and within these narrow limits he enumerates 54 persons who had reached the age of 100 years ; 14, the age of 110; 20, 125; 40, 130; 40, 135; and 30, 140 years. In the single town of Valcia- tium near Placentia, he mentions 6 persons of 110, 4 of 120, and 1 of 150 years of age. Among the ancient philosophers and men of note, not to mention women, we find some cases of comparative longevity. Sophocles is said to have lived 90 years; Zeno, 98; De- mocritus, 99; Pyrrho, 90; Diogenes, 90; Isoc- rates, 98 ; Gorgias and Hippocrates, upward of 100; and numerous other instances of com- parative longevity are recorded of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as of modern times and nations. Dr. Van Oven gives 17 examples of age exceeding 150 years; and Mr. Bailey, in his records of longevity, gives a catalogue of 3,000 or 4,000 cases of old age, verging closely on 100 or exceeding it, and not a few of them reaching as high as 150 years. Many of these cases may be more or less satisfactorily authen- ticated, but there can be no doubt of the occa- sional prolongation of human life beyond the age of 100, even up to 170, and in at least one instance to 185, the age of Peter Czartan, a peasant of Hungary, who was born in 1539 and died in 1724. But these cases are always ex- ceptional in comparison with the average du- ration of life, ana therefore, as judicious writ- ers have observed, "no fit exponents of the universal natural capacity for life in man." The average, which falls below the natural terra, might certainly be raised by due atten- tion to the laws of nature and the known re- quirements of healthy life in states and cities, families and individuals. The natural term of life differs to some extent, no doubt, in differ- ent persons, though not as the natural stature differs in different families ; for all men attain to virility about 35 or 40, however slowly they decline into old age. To this extent we may regard the natural term of human development as normal or constant ; but some maintain their vigor many years, and then decline most rapid- ly and die, while others decline slowly and enjoy a long evening of life. This view of the fact might give some plausibility to the theory of continuing for all by artificial means tlmt slow decline which nature, unassisted, mani- fests in some rare instances ; but nothing being known of the causes of such exceptional lon- gevity, nothing can be logically predicated of the possible results of any human scheme for lengthening the descending period of human life. Little is known of the age of animals, es- pecially the non-domesticated tribes. Some isolated facts, however, have been noted with regard to the age attained by certain birds, fishes, reptiles, elephants, &c. The East In- dians believe that the elephant lives about 300 years, and instances are on record of the ani- mals having been kept in captivity as long as 130 years, their age being unknown when they were first taken wild from the forest. Camels live from 40 to 50 years ; horses average from 25 to 30, oxen about 20, sheep 8 or 9, and dogs from 12 to 14 years. As a general rule, the larger types of animals live longer than the smaller, in the vertebrated classes, quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, and fishes. Some kinds of birds attain to a great age; the swan has been known to live 100 years ; and there are in- stances on record of the raven having exceeded that age. Birds of prey attain to great lon- gevity ; the eagle has survived a century. Par- rots have been known to live 60, and as long as 80 years. The gallinaceous tribes live not so long. Pheasants and domestic poultry rare- ly exceed 12 or 15 years. Reptiles of some kinds live very long. A tortoise was placed in the garden of the archiepiscopal palace of Lambeth in 1633, during the life of Archbishop Laud, and lived till 1753, when it perished by accident. Nothing is known of the age of large serpents, such as the boa, but small batra- chians, as the toad, are known to live about 15 years. Fishes, and animals that live in the water, attain in many instances to a great age. The carp has been known to live 200 years. Common river trout have been confined in a well 30 and even 50 years. A pike has been known to live in a pond 90 years ; and Gesner relates that in 1497 an enormous pike was caught in a lake near Heilbronn, in Swabia, with a brass ring attached to it, recording that it was put into the lake in 1230. The pike must have lived, therefore, at least 267 years. The ring is still preserved at Mannheim. The age of the whale is known by the size and number of lamina? of certain organs in the mouth, formed of a horny substance, commonly called whalebone. These lamina} increase yearly, and if the mode of computation be cor- rect, they indicate in certain cases that the an- imal attains to an age of 400 years. Little is known of the age attained by animals of the lower types, such as articulata, mollusca, and radiata. That of insects has received some at- tention, and it has been remarked that though the first period of life, passed in the grub or caterpillar state, extends to several months or even years, the great majority live but a few